 I'm Jay Fidel. This is Sigtekawaii. This is the movie show with George Kasin, and we have a great movie to talk to you about today. It's called Delicious. It's a French movie made in the UK, and it is all about the months and years leading up to the French Revolution. It's very interesting because it is about food, it is about the nobility, it is about the common people, and it is about a specific cook who works for the nobility and gets fired because he puts potatoes in a particular dish, terrible, terrible, terrible. But there's lots to be learned from this movie, and George, why don't you tell us the way the plot unfolds? It starts with this guy, Matt Chiron, who's the cook, the chef. He's the head chef for a duke. He's a head chef for the duke, and you know, he does the standard fare, you know, that the duke wants, right? Then he figures, you know, do a little innovation, you know, he wanted to do a tart, an interesting tart, which he went with truffles, which is very, is it French delicacy, and he put potato in there, and then of course butter and whatever, and it was a good, it was a very tasty thing. So as he's displaying this, and some of the people are eating it, you know, they figured it not bad, and then a cleric, you know, leave it to a cleric to say, oh my god, potato, potato, that's for pigs, right? And then all these arrogant nobles, you know, that are sitting at this table, right, really arrogant, they start laughing about what the cleric has said, pig, pig, pig, and they're all laughing at him. So the duke, you know, who initially had praised Montserrat's, you know, fare, all of the stuff he's cooked, tells him, you know, Matt Chiron, you better apologize to these people because they're not comfortable with your potato and your truffle, you know, and your tart, and he refuses to apologize because he feels, you know, it was initially liked, and just because this cleric comes up and says this, so the duke, arrogant duke, after years, terminates him. So he gets up, you know, and he gets all his personal effects together, and walks back to the cabin where his late father raised him, you know, somewhere in the rural area, and he's there, and he sort of discussed it, doesn't want to cook anymore, just wants to, you know, just doesn't want to cook anymore. So lo and behold, a middle-aged woman shows up at his door and wants to be his apprentice, and he initially, he tells her, I don't want to cook anymore. I don't want to do that anymore because he's so traumatized by what this duke that was his boss for so many years, right, and then she's insisting, she's insisting, she's insisting, right, that she wants to do this, and initially he's pushing her away, and pushing her away, and pushing her away, but she's very smart, you know, first, you don't know who she is initially, she, like you like, all the pieces haven't filled, haven't come together yet, but they will eventually, as the movie progresses, right. So eventually she convinces him, even though she's a woman, and even though he doesn't want to do it, she convinces him to start teaching, and as smart as she is, and then he's got a son with him, because his wife passed away after the son was born, he's got a smart kid who reads Rousseau, a very intelligent guy, right, young guy, probably about 20 years old, right. So this woman, she has good ideas, and she says, you know, people go to ends when they're on the trip, when they're traveling, wouldn't it be a good idea if you could set up something where people could come and eat, you know, like out of their house, like Sunday or Sunday afternoon, or Saturday, or for special occasions, so they don't have to cook, because in that day and age, everybody used to cook, you know, at home, and only rarely when they were on a trip would they go to put in and eat, and the in fare was really garbage, it was just crummy soups and maybe bread, not a normal meal, so they only, they didn't have their normal meals, and then his son, who's very smart, says, yeah, yeah, this is, you know, it's like for the public, for everybody, right, not only for the nobles, but for everybody, so we're becoming equality, you know, that this whole age is fighting for equality, so they come up with this idea, and initially they think a lot of these things were a little bit manufactured, because you know that this eventually started in Paris, and not in a rural area, but it wasn't France where it started, and let's have some table clothes and tables and have a menu, and you know, and entrees and appetizers and desserts, so the whole idea of a restaurant, right, was, this is the whole idea of innovation, and he comes a big, big success, major success, and the Duke had hired two or three other people and his wife didn't like them, right away got rid of them, so the Duke, you know, is going to come and come to this, to his rural place, on his way to Paris, right, he's supposed to come, and so the, he, I think, who's the chief of staff of this Duke, comes to the place and says, I want you to set up something for the Duke and his royal helpers, you know, other nobles, and have it at such and such a day, at such and such a time, so initially there was a certain day, and then Diaz Saint, who's the chief of staff, contacts him with a letter and says, you have to do it two days earlier, because the, he's finished with what his duties, and he's going to go earlier, right, so they're knocking themselves out to get this thing together, you know, and they want to make an impression, right, and then when the Duke finally comes and all he's coming, he's coming, the entourage goes right through, and Diaz Saint sends him a letter, I'm sorry that the Duke was hungrier earlier, so we stopped at another in earlier, so all this effort was for nothing, really pissed off, right, but this restaurant for the public becomes a major success, and then the Duke contacts Marsheron, and sort of wants him back, you know, and he, the Marsheron says, so why don't you come and see what's, what's, you know, this is like, and I think that the woman is a dentist and put that in his mind, right, so Marsheron comes and Marsheron says, this, this is only for the nobles, this is not for the public, the public doesn't deserve anything like this, right, but they keep them in open when Marsheron and his wife come, and they have all their other customers come in too, right, so Marsheron is really really really upset, right, that there's other other people there and he's, the Duke is upset, the Duke, excuse me, the Duke is upset, and he's, sorry about that, and he's mouthing off, you know, about how this is ridiculous, and then all the people there in the restaurant, you know, the clients, right, start disagreeing with him, you know, and blah, blah, blah, blah, and the apprentice, this is the thing that I don't know if I want to reveal it now, but the apprentice, she has a plan, right, who is this woman, very elegant, because one of the things Marsheron said to her when she first came, she says, I know, when she started to cook, just I know, I look at your hands, either you were a crawl girl, a prostitute, or you were the wife of a noble, and she, and she lies, and she says that she was a prostitute, and they treated her really, but initially she says that, but eventually we find out that you want me to say that the punchline of who she was, and what it was all about, or should we wait? Let's wait. Okay, so let me join with you now, you know, that was a great rendition, and you do have a fabulous memory, I must say, you remember four details in that in that movie, but let's stop there, and a couple of thoughts I want to bounce off you. Sure. Number one is the movie was tremendous in its values, its production values, its scenery, the inside shots, the outside shots, it's beautiful, everything in the movie is like a painting, and the critics have reviewed it with that in my day of all, you know, uniformly found that this is a beautiful movie, a beautiful movie of France, of the castle, you know, the Duke's castle, of the shanty building that Menceran, you know, creates a restaurant from, and the whole thing is so, I don't want to say faithful, because we don't know how things were, but it paints a beautiful picture of the way life was for them then, in the French countryside. What's ironic about it is that the movie was not made in the French countryside, it was made in Cornwell, England, even though it's shot entirely in French, and that's another point that the French is so good, the actors are so good, both Menceran and Louise, you know, the women who comes to him, and the son, they're all heroes, and they're all such larger than life people, and you get to know them, you get to live with them, and what I find interesting about Menceran is that when he wants to express an emotional reaction, it's so subtle, so understated, the same thing with Louise and the son is understated, there's no overacting in this at all, you have to watch it carefully to see what they're really telling you, and you get to love that big fat guy, he's wonderful, and Louise, you get to love her, even though she's a big question mark, as you said, who is this woman, and the son is so devoted to his father, one reviewer said, this movie has a purity, and the purity goes beyond, I think, the French countryside, it goes beyond the dedication of this cook to his food, the way he lays it out, the way he cuts his produce, the way he creates his dishes, this is an extraordinary cook, and he said, well, there's a lot of movies that are being made these days about food, but this is different than all of those movies about food, this was happening in the 18th century, and people didn't have the same view about food, even the French in those days, and as you said, and I think your research says, because you know that the actual development of restaurants as a way to serve food happened in Paris, not in the countryside, but that's okay, because it may have been happening parallel, we know this is not a true story, but there are so many true elements here, and I think the true is one of all, and I'll stop in a minute, is that we are ramping up into the French Revolution, this is all happening just prior to the French Revolution, and when you see the way the nobility conduct themselves, see how obnoxious they are, and how they treat the common people as lower life people, you realize that what we have here is a real divisive society, and it can't continue this way, and you see it breaking down in this movie, this movie is really a study of France just before the French Revolution, what was happening socially, so food is important, these characters are important, but the biggest thing of all, as you mentioned George, is that the common folk came in, enjoyed the restaurant, were together, and the hell with the duke, the duke became less important all the time, and he was less powerful all the time, what I'm saying, and this is really a very important point about the movie, is that the French Revolution did not happen on juillet cacti, July 14th, and the taking of the best deal, it was happening for a while, it was happening before Marie Antoinette said, let them eat cake, and it's very symbolic for this movie, let them eat cake when they're starving, I guess you remember the scene where the young boys are stealing bread from the cook, and Louise turns in, or maybe his son turns to him and says, they're stealing your bread, aren't you going to try to stop them? And he says, no, no, I want them to take the bread, because I want them to appreciate what I'm doing, and to know that I'm not going to punish them, I want to be at peace with them, and what he's really doing is making a political statement about food and people and the countryside, so what you have here is a view into pre-revolution France, and that is the most interesting thing of all, and the part that we held back on, this extraordinary conversation between Louise and the duke and Montserrat, when it all gets revealed, this is important because this is the kernel of the breakdown of the distinction between the nobility and the common people, this is where they let the duke have it good, so tell us how that went, George. Well, you find out that she really lied to Manchuron, that she was the wife of a noble, right? And the duke, son of a really bad guy, right? Sort of had liked her, right? And wanted to take her away, because in those days, horrible women were considered property, you know, they really weren't, you know, so she wanted to take, and she refused to go to leave her husband and go to this duke, right? So one of the things on this side, when the chief of staff was stopped by the restaurant, right? She hit her face because she figured someone would recognize her, right? So then at the restaurant, when the clientele starts screaming at him, she finally reveals who she is, right? That she's the wife of the duke, and what this duke had done is created all kind of problems for her husband, and she thinks, because he ended up hanging himself, her husband, and she thinks that maybe the duke had her husband hung. So her whole plan was to become an apprentice, so she could poison the guy. She figured, this was her whole plan, because she was so angry, you know, she was going to poison him. So she knows how to do that? Yes. She tried to make poison before, and she, you know, she decided not to do it and threw the food on the ground and wrote the chickens came around and ate the food, and they all turned upside down dead. Exactly. So she knows how to make poison. So the thing is, bottom line here is she reveals herself and she tells the duke, I can poison you. Now you don't know when the movie's ending. Did she really poison him? Did he go back and die, the duke? But he runs out, she pulls off his wig, right? You see his head without the wig, you know, they used to be all wearing wigs. And this happened three days before the storming of the Bastille, as you were saying. So this was all leading up to the French Revolution, you know, with Marie Antoinette losing her head and the royalty being pulled down, you know. So the movie ends three days before the storming of the Bastille. So when the French built the royalty fell. So really interesting. Unfortunately, you don't know whether she really poisoned him. Well, I think I'd like to revisit that with you. When she tells him who she really is and how she is seeking vengeance against him, he is in the process of eating the food from Ezra. And he spits it out. You know, the notion he spit it out because he thought, you know, she was poisoning him and she had good reason. But she says to him, if you remember, she says, no, I'm not going to poison you. I'm not going to do that to you. Okay. And then we have, you know, a very interesting moment where the woman that he's with and the Duke himself is saying, you are putting us in a restaurant where these lower than low common people are sitting next to him. We can't possibly do that. And that's when she pulls off his wig. And she says, no, you know, you like the rest of us. And we don't accept your extravagance and your claim to power. But then, and this is really, really interesting. He says to her and to Mansuron, this is the core of that meeting. He says, I will have you killed. I will have you executed. And he's a Duke. So, you know, possibly he could do that. But then she steps in and she lets him have it. If you want to do that, just threaten us one more time. And I'm going to report you to the King for killing, I guess, her husband, and a bunch of other things. She was collecting data on him. She had four or five things that he had done in violation of the, you know, the King's commands. And and she threatened him that she would go to the King and record him and that he would be in big trouble. Okay. And at that moment, the whole thing swings around because she said, when she tells him that he is stupefied and he has no answer. And he has no wig on either. And you realize that his threat that he would kill Mansuron is empty. And that Duke or no Duke, he no longer has the power. She has undone him. She has completely pulled the rug out from under him. And he can't assassinate or, you know, execute Mansuron. He can't stop the restaurant. He can't stop the local people from coming in and eating. He's finished. And he walks out in, you know, embarrassment and humiliation with and without a wig. She's just an ordinary, an ordinary guy at that point. And so, you know, that's what I was saying before. The revolution didn't happen in one fell swoop. It was happening. And this was an example of a woman talking back to him. And some of the nobility would talk to other members of the nobility. And they would point out that, you know, it's not sustainable. You have to stop doing this. And so it's perfect that three days later, you know, we have the fall of the best deal. But the Duke was done. She did him. And then Mansuron realizes what a wonderful woman she is that she has this kind of strength that she could deal with the nobility and tell him where to get off. And that is a really wonderful moment in the movie. It just blew me away. You remember some of these details? I guess I got caught up in visual and didn't listen to the words. But you know, this is a very good movie for what's happening today. I mean, you know that here in America and all around the world, you've got more and more super wealthy people. And the gap between the wealthy and the not so wealthy is broadening constantly. So we're going back to an age like before FDR, you know, before the gilded age that we saw the movie, The Gilded Age, where you have the very wealthy. And then the middle class is deteriorating and losing. You know, I mean, a lot of the kids today, they can't even reach their parents level of comfort and affluence, right? So we've got the broadening. So it's sort of a lesson for today too. I mean, there's a lesson to what's happening in America and even in Europe and around the world with the super wealthy. Yeah, but I think, you know, when we first spoke about this movie, George, you told me you were impressed with it because it showed innovation. And here we have, and I think it was beyond Mansuron. It was happening in other places, especially in Paris. A guy named Boulanger had invented a restaurant in 1825. You must have done the same research I did. And this movie was set in 1789. But in that period of time, the French were realizing that their, you know, their culture was inextricably intertwined with food and with restaurants. And, you know, this was a step forward that they still enjoy today. This was the development of the French culture around eating and food and preparation of food and exquisite dishes and lots of butter, I might add. And he talks about butter and food. But so what you have is in Mansuron, you have a person, he's kind of quiet. You know, he's not, when he's in charge of a kitchen, he barks commands. But as an individual in this relationship with his son with Louise and others around, he's kind of quiet. He's an observer. He's a fair-minded observer. And he's seeing these things happen. He's observing. And if you want to look for a lesson, there is a lesson. This guy is an everyman. He's not a nobility by any means. He's just watching the change in France. He's watching the change in food. And he's being motivated by Louise, who is, you know, incentivizing him and encouraging him to get back and out of his depression and, you know, into what he was born for. So what they're really, what they're really doing, I think, is they're observers. They're fair-minded observers to the changes in France. And as a couple, as a team, a three-person team, I should add, because they're all contributing to the innovation. They're all contributing to making him the great cook that he was born to be. They are, you know, they're giving us a model to follow today. A model of watching and participating and breaking down the division, you know, between the nobility, even today's nobility, and the ordinary people. And I think we learned from that. We learned that there's a way to observe and participate and innovate to bring the various factions together. And that's what this movie, to me, that's what it leaves us with. His son was reading in Rousseau, you know, so a lot of political treatise, you know, so the son was really right on top of what was going on right before the best deal, right. So the son was a smart kid, you know. Now remember the early in the movie, his son was using a library in the Duke's castle. And the Duke caught him. And he can't use the library. You're a commoner, you know, and you people don't read. We don't want you reading. And then he made other comments about the food. They said you people, you can't appreciate good food. You have no idea what good food is. And you'll never know. And it's up to us, the nobility, to know. And we are the only ones who can appreciate the reading, the library, so to speak, and the food and the cooking. And you say, what the hell is this? What is this guy saying? Can he get away with that answer? No. And you're right. The boy was a statement of the future. So was Mansuron. So was Louise, all statements of the future. This is what France was going to be like. And the boy was certainly going to be an activist, a reader, a thinker, a philosopher, a great character. They were all great characters. And I admire, you know, whoever selected them for the movie. This was the acting was excellent. And you had to stretch your neck to find out what was really going on. You had to stretch your neck to figure out what they were thinking and why. And you had to follow the action. I told you before, the best literature and the best moviemaking is when the character changes in front of your eyes. And all three of them changed, including the mystery woman Louise. She also changed. You admire them as individuals. You would admire them for their contribution to the French society. What would you give this, what would you give this as a rating, George? I give it a 10 because of the historical aspects of it. The acting, the beautiful scenery. In every respect, I thought that it's hitting a lot of good 10 points. So I'll give it a 10. Really liked it. Yeah, I would too. And I wait for more movies like this. It's a statement of how good a French movie can be. It's a statement of how non-violent. It was never violence in the movie. Threats maybe, but no violence. And it was a head trip this movie. It was a historical, I wouldn't say documentary, but a statement of the history of France and the history of the 18th century. So this is the kind of movie I really like. And I hope we see more of them. And some people may look at this movie on a one-dimensional basis and say, oh, another cooking movie, another movie about food. No, that's not it. That's not it. It's much more than that. You know, for me, I enjoyed this movie, even though I'm vegan and the kid said, you know, his son said something about eating meat that creates aggression or something. So that was a little tidbit for people with my dietary choices, right? But I still enjoyed him making with the, you know, he would make the eggs and he would put the butter and with his hands, you know, they showed his hands, you know, cooking. It's similar to when we were, we watched the pig movie where you had that famous chef that went out into the woods, right? And you could tell from the way he was handling his hands with the cooking truffles. You knew that he was a master chef. Same thing with nonchalant, you know, just showing his hand movements as a chef. Interesting. Really interesting. Interesting to focus on food in that way. It's a cultural, philosophical, you know, way. And it also points out that we are in a time, perhaps, you know, in a, you know, a pivotal time when food may not be as plentiful as it used to be. And so all these movies are really saying, you know, you got to appreciate every little morsel. Don't take it for granted. Well, thank you, George. We'll find another one in a couple of weeks. But I think we, we've had a good one this time. And we have a good track of appreciating these movies. And I really appreciate, you know, you watching them and remembering the details and researching them. And we'll do it again soon. Thank you, Jay. Thank you, George. George Casey. Movie reviewer par excellence. Jay also par excellence. Thank you so much for watching Think Tech Hawaii. If you like what we do, please like us and click the subscribe button on YouTube and the follow button on Vimeo. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn and donate to us at thinktechhawaii.com. Mahalo.