Alonso Ruizpalacios written and directed La Cocina, based on the 1957 play “The Kitchen” by Arnold Wesker, which had already been adapted to a 1961 film, The Kitchen.
However, while in the play and film the staff were continental European immigrants, in the new movie they are Latin Americans and Arabs.
The film stars international cast, Raúl Briones Carmona, American Rooney Mara, Anna Diaz, Motell Foster, Israeli Oded Fehr, Eduardo Olmos and Spenser Granese.
Rashid, a successful Arab American entrepreneur, runs “The Grill,” a Times Square tourist trap. The kitchen, located underground, is staffed by illegal immigrants, Latin Americans and Arabs, who must work at breakneck speed in the rush hours to fulfill the orders of waitresses who are predominantly white.
Rashid has promised to obtain for the cooks a legal status in the US, but fails to act.
Estela, a newly arrived Hispanic immigrant gets introduced at to the staff and the restaurant’s rough ways.
Pedro, a charming, if hot-tempered Mexican cook, and Julia, a white American waitress, quarrel over their relationship; Pedro is accused of dating Julia only to get his visa.
Relationships between Hispanics and “Gringos” – and specifically, between male Latin American immigrants and female “Gringas” – are a constant subject in the conversations of the kitchen staff. Julia is pregnant and is determined to get an abortion; Pedro, deeply in love with her, wants her to keep the child and engages in a fantasy of the two of them running away to an unspoiled beach in Mexico, where his son could run free on the shore. However, Pedro does get her the money needed for the abortion and she goes through with it alone.
When asked about their dreams by Pedro, Nonzo, the dessert cook, tells the strange story of handicapped immigrant who was touched twice by an alien green light, first saving him from deportation. Asked about the second encounter, Nonzo says he doesn’t know.
Pedro gets in trouble for responding violently to provocation by a fellow cook, and for giving free a lobster to a hungry homeless.
When money is reported to have disappeared from the cash register, Pedro is suspected of being the thief; it’s the same amount needed for Julia’s abortion. Eventually, the lost money is found as there was no theft.
Weakened after her abortion, Julia faints. and Pedro is shocked to discover that she had concealed from him being a single mother.
In the final scene, Pedro goes unhinged after altercation with a waitress, embarking on a wild rampage in both the kitchen and the restaurant upstairs – overturning tables, destroying equipment. Rashid confronts Pedro about his lashing out, but Pedro remains silent, covered in eerie green light.
Critical Status:
The film world premiered at the 2024 Berlin Film Fest, and was released in the US by Willa.
Alonso Ruizpalacios was nominated for best director by Indie Spirit Awards.
Cast
Raúl Briones Carmona as Pedro
Rooney Mara as Julia
Anna Diaz as Estela
Eduardo Olmos as Luis
Motell Foster as Nonz
Oded Fehr as Rashid
Laura Gómez as Laura
James Waterston as Mark
Lee Sellars as Chef
Spenser Granese as Max
Julia Haltigan as Trisha
