Kitchen = Wo ai chu fang

Banana Yoshimoto’s popular Japanese novel ‘Kitchen’ is radically reworked in this film of the same name by director Yim-Ho. ‘Kitchen’ is a slowly paced but affectionate study on grief and the emotional state and journey of the bereaved. When Aggie’s grandmother (Yasuko Tomita), her last living relative, dies, she is taken in by hairdresser acquaintance Louie (Jordan Chan), and Emma (Law Kar Ying) his transsexual ‘mother’. With warmth and affection the two slowly arouse Aggie from her listless state and nurture her back to life. ‘Kitchen’ uses food as a constant metaphor throughout the film to explore emotional states and to symbolise the depth of unexplored feelings. When tragedy strikes again with sickly premonition, both Louie and Aggie are forced to revisit their grief, triggering unresolved issues. In Cantonese with English subtitles.