Ovi Magazine Issue #12: Sexuality Published: 01-03-2006

iKritic
Spicing up history
By Asa Butcher
A Touch of Spice (2003)
(Politiki kouzina / Πολίτικη Κουζίνα)
Directed & written by Tassos Boulmetis
Pepper...is hot and scorches, just like the sun
Salt...is used as needed to spice up one’s life
Cinnamon...is bitter and sweet, just like a woman
My experience with Greek films begins
with Zorba the Greek and ends
with My Big Fat Greek Wedding, so
you could say that Hellenic cinema
is like a stranger to me. Today that
stranger introduced himself, proceeded
to serve 108-minutes of bittersweet
Greek modern history and departed as
a new best friend.
A Touch of Spice is the title you’ll
need to remember at the DVD store
because its quality matches that of
Cinema Paradiso, Jean De Florette
and La Vita e Bella; that’s how accomplished
this movie is. The story
absorbed me so much that my mind
forgot it was reading subtitles, plus
did not realise when two characters
started speaking English.
In the same style as Cinema Paradiso,
the film follows Fanis Iakovides
(Georges Corraface) as he returns to
his roots in Constantinople (Istanbul)
in order to visit his ailing grandfather.
The film rewinds three decades to life
in the city when Fanis was just a little
boy spending all his time in his grandfather’s
spice shop. His grandfather
teaches Fanis about the importance of
spice, in both life and food, while living
under the rule of the Turks.
The Turkish government decree that
thousands of Greeks, including Fanis’
father, are to be deported back to
Greece, so the family pack up leaving
the grandfather behind. In Greece, the
family are continually called Turks
and suffer from the rules and regulations
of the dictatorship, but throughout
all the problems that Fanis and his
family face there are the meals, each
more spectacular than the last.
Food is at the heart of the Greek family,
it is used politically, romantically,
socially and emotionally, each of
which is clearly portrayed during the
film. One of most poignant scenes
is when Fanis’ father states why the
grandfather will never leave Constantinople
to visit them in Athens and
this is immediately after one of the
funniest scenes in the movie. Thee
many bittersweet moments during the
movie reflect the emotions that these
Greeks suffered during that period of
their history…and even now.
I was lucky enough to watch the film
with Thanos, who provided his own
‘Director’s Commentary’ that gave
further insight into the historical and
cultural situations, plus allowed me an
insight into his own history. Thanos
identified with many of the situations
that Fanis faced, while director and
writer Tassos Boulmetis based the
movie on his own personal experiences,
which makes me understand why
this movie became the biggest box office
hit in Greece with more than one
million tickets sold.
A whole generation of Greeks lived
and still clearly remember this period
of their history, which left me shocked
at some points because it is difficult
to comprehend some of the situations
in which the Iakovides family found
themselves. If it hadn’t been for Thanos
confirming my doubts, I couldn’t
have believed seeing a line of tanks
outside a Greek train station.
I am not familiar with Greek or Turkish
actors, but I was impressed with
each of the different actors that portrayed
Fanis, especially Markos Osse
who played Little Fanis. He was very
sweet and was lucky enough to have
some of the best scenes of the movie,
such as the aforementioned train sequence.
Once again, if it hadn’t been for Thanos’
knowledge about the making of
this film, I would never have realised
that many of the shots are computergenerated.
The two aerial shots that
introduce 1960’s Constantinople and
Athens are amazing, while the grandfather’s
spice shop is a place I would
love to visit - you could almost smell
the spice.
A Touch of Spice is a beautiful film
that deserves to be mentioned in the
same breath as many of the other foreign
cinema greats. You don’t need
to have a Thanos sat next to explaining
everything or know much about
Greek/Turkish history, my only suggestion
is to eat beforehand because
all the food on screen will drive you
crazy with hunger.