Runtime: 115 minutes

Rating: Fling(ed)

Recommended for foodies and those who enjoy gently paced movies where characters cope with loss and once again find purpose in life through work.

I’d been looking forward to seeing Patisserie Coin de rue from the first time I saw a trailer for it at the tail end of 2010. Yu Aoi, Yosuke Eguchi and desserts – how could I not be interested? Aoi always selects interesting projects, and there was no reason to think Patisserie would be any different. Add to that the appeal of Eguchi (who also tends to take part in films and dramas I enjoy), plus the prospect of food porn, and I was pretty much sold from the get-go.

It took forever for the film to make it over to Hong Kong for an English subtitled release, and I was starting to wonder if I’d ever get the chance to see it. Now that I’ve finally gotten to watch it, I can honestly say it was well worth the wait.

Synopsis

Natsume leaves her small-town home and family bakery for Tokyo in order to find her erstwhile boyfriend, Umi. In his farewell letter, he tells her he’s training at a well-respected patisserie, the Coin de rue, but when she finally tracks down the shop, Natsume discovers Umi has already left with no forwarding address. At loose ends, she convinces the owner to hire her as an assistant.

Natsume’s life becomes intertwined with the lives of those who visit Coin de rue. A special customer, Tomura, was once a pastry God, but after a tragic incident from his past, he gives up his career. Unexpectedly, the two end up helping one another to move forward with their lives.

Over time (and lots of pastry), Natsume discovers there’s much more to her life than what she originally thought and that desserts can be much more than a simple sweet treat.

Thoughts

One of the most surprising things about Patisserie Coin de rue is it’s main character, Natsume. Rather than the sweet, hardworking young woman I’d been expecting ever since I first watched one of the movie’s trailers, she’s loud, a little spoiled and more than a little rude. Oddly enough, I found her to be a breath of fresh air.

It’s not often we see a loud, rude and spoiled female character take the lead in this kind of film, and it’s even more rare for that character to be played by Yu Aoi. Had anyone else played Natsume, I’m quite sure she would have been unbearable, but Aoi imbues the character with an air of vulnerability that turns Natsume’s more off-putting traits into a protective armor. More than any of the other actors’ performances, the film hinges on Aoi’s ability to make the audience root for Natsume despite her flaws.

Aoi imbues the character with an air of vulnerability…

It’s only moments after we witness the character at her most childish, and possibly most heartless, when Aoi deftly unbalances us with an acting one-two punch, leaving Natsume’s emotional underbelly exposed for all the world to see. In the end, I found her to be a character capable of being both annoying and kind, selfish and generous.

In other words, a very real young woman.

Unlike Natsume, Tomura is quiet and still, practically paralyzed by a mistake from his past. His gruff, no-nonsense exterior hides a man who doesn’t even try to deal with layer after layer of pain. Eguchi is extremely effective at pulling the audience into his emotional hell, and his considerable skills are particularly displayed during a sequence where he relives the tragic events that occurred on the day he walked away from being a chef.

The one thing that really bothers me about the movie is how few scenes Natsume and Tomura share. I really wish the two characters had been given more screentime together. As it is, their relationship feels underdeveloped. There are a couple major life changes that both Natsume and Tomura make that are supposedly spurred by their respect and affection for one another that instead feel almost out of the blue. This results in a weaker ending than the rest of the story deserves.

I went into the movie expecting that these two would be directly interacting as teacher/student throughout the film, but for the major of the story, they merely move around the edges of each others lives. They meet for brief periods, and each encounter is definitely charged, but it’s not until the last half hour where we really see their relationship develop.

Since I viewed Patisserie as primarily Natsume’s story, this didn’t end up a fatal flaw for me, but it still dropped the film from “Loved” status to just “Fling(ed).”

Overall

Even with an underdeveloped relationship between Natsume and Tomura and a fairly weak concluding scene, I still enjoyed Patisserie Coin de rue for its individual performances and shot after shot of foodie goodness. I absolutely recommend giving it a try, particularly if you’re a Yu Aoi fan or a foodie.

Har senaste tiden verkligen försökt plugga kanji, glosor och grammatik varje dag inför terminsstarten igen, men ibland så orkar man bara inte. Då  har jag gjort lite kompromisser och kört igång en japansk film på datorn och degat framför den istället. Nästintill plugg vill jag tycka. Ibland kan man vara så ambitiös att man kör utan sub (om det inte handlar om politiska debatter m.m).

Lyckades först äntligen se Patisserie  Coin De Rue (2011) med favorit-japanskan Aoi Yuu. Den flickan är så förbannat sockersöt att man inte vet om man ska bli arg av avundsjuka eller falla pladask i dyrkan. Som jag förväntat mig var den sådär lagom feel-goodig med en hel del scener där de görs bakelser och choklad (my kind of movie) följandes med några ledsamma historier och slut. Verkligen mer än helt okej film att spendera en tråkig eftermiddag med, blev varken besviken eller totalt överraskad, men mysfaktorn fanns verkligen där. Enda minuset är att de alltid måste ta in utländska skådisar i japanska filmer och göra allt så awkward och stelt. Även i denna tyvärr. Utlänningar i japansk film är oftast så sjukt sjaskiga skådisar och kan inte spela för fem öre. Förvånar mig inte om de hittar sina fransoser och amerikaner på random gata i Tokyo.

Andra filmen jag såg igår efter jobbet var School Days with a Pig (2009). Baserad på en riktig historia och handlar om en mellanstadielärare som väljer att lära sina elever att uppskatta mat och var den kommer ifrån. Detta genom att föda upp en egen gris i klassen för att till sist äta den. Låter ganska sjukt jag vet, men i och med att historien rullar på och eleverna börjar bli fasta med den lilla varelser så uppstår de moraliska dilemman. Ska grisen slaktas eller inte? Vem har rätten att bestämma livslängd över andra?

Scenerna i klassrummet mellan eleverna är så sjukt fascinerande att sitta och titta på, och man glömmer bort ganska fort att eleverna faktiskt spelar. En flickar ifrågasätter varför den här grisen ska vara skillnad från alla andra grisar medan en annan pojke kontrar och säger att det är människorna som valt den här vägen åt grisarna och inte de själva. Jag undrar ibland om inte regissören låtit eleverna vara med grisen ett bra tag innan, för de flesta av barnen argumenterar med en sån sjuk inlevelse att man får gåshud flera gånger om. Även om jag inte är ett stor fan av hur slutet utvecklade sig (några osvarade frågor som jag lite sådär halvt skrek mot skärmen de sista 3 minuterna) och inte riktigt delade åsikterna, så jag kan förstå att regissören ville behålla slutet som det hände på riktigt.

just watched the movie patisserie coin de rue of Japanese patissier chefs and apprentices which was quite enjoyable, albeit slightly slow at parts. but who cares about storyline when you see those glorious cakes from the legendary mille feuille to mont blancs to vol-au-vents.. it just made you feel like heading right out to a nearby french patisserie and grabbing dozens of cakes to sample. and i dont mean like angel cakes (are they still around?) or the likes, but artfully designed and beautifully crafted cakes.

hmm, if the above trailer whet your appetite for cakes, here are some places on my patisserie list that i intend to visit soon!

1. antoinette | 333A Orchard Road #02-33/34 Mandarin Gallery S238897

2. the patissier |  18 Ann Siang Road

3. bonheur patisserie | 70 Duxton Road

アマルフィ 女神の報酬  (Amalfi: Rewards of the Goddess)

Kuroda is a diplomat who is sent to Rome concerning the safety of the G8 summit. He accidentally involved himself in a case of kidnapping which is actually part of a terrorist plot. However, no one knows what are the terrorist’s true goal until it is too late.

Amalfi gave the message of if one is truly sorry for the pain done onto others, he should  live and somehow manage to repay the damages. Also, one should not be too rash about things such as ending another individual’s life because a person carries the truth inside him.

I liked how Sarah Brightman was featured in the film when she sang Time to Say Goodbye, a song that was also in Titanic.

Diplomat Kuroda is a drama show that was also made into films. Similar shows are Galileo and Detective Conan. I would most likely watch more movies that features Diplomat Kuroda.

洋菓子店コアンドル (Patisserie Coin de rue)

There are two characters. Tomura, a legendary patissier gave up his work due to a grief incident that happened to his daughter when Tomura was stuck at work. Natsume, a girl who traveled to Tokyo to search for her ex-boyfriend. During an encounter with the chef of Coin de rue, she aims to become a master patissier. The story revolves around these patissiers as their bond increases.

To believe that one is at fault for an accident and stop one’s relationship with loved ones and one’s career is not a positive thing. Also, aim for being the best even if others doubt you.
Special Police The Motion Picture II

Ogata plans revenge against Asada, the prime minister by entering the special police and teaming up with his friend Date, a bureaucrat. Together with other bureaucrats they would make a revolution that would shock the foundations of the Japanese government.

Some people are twisted as the will betray their own friends. The film tries showed how cruel the world was when violence done towards bureaucrats who merely did the revolution’s planning were all killed.

Ogata is played by Shinichi Tsutsumi, who played the role of the math teacher in the film 容疑者Xの献身 (The Devotion of Suspect X). It features the battle of wits between two geniuses as a murder is attempted to be solved. Tsutsumi is a great actor that brings out the true feelings and emotions of a character.

The Hawaii International Film Festival, which is between April 1 (Friday) to April 7 (Thursday), has three foodie films for your enjoyment.

• First up, is The Recipe.  “Soybean paste.”  These are the last words of a killer.  Why would  a killer on the run stop and savor a bowl of soybean paste stew (된장 찌개 – doenjang jjigae)? It must be a killer bowl of stew.
• Japanese film, Patisserie Coin De Rue (translates from French as Pastry Corner), is about a young girl from the country heading to Tokyo to find her fiance.  When she gets to the shop with the film’s name, she finds he no longer works there.  She decides to work there and interacts with a legendary pastissier.
• Lastly, the Turkish film, Honey (Bal) us about a shy, young boy, Yusuf who adores his beekeeping father. One day his father goes missing and searches for him.

In Honolulu Grub Club news, the rules are up for a first ever See-Food Photo Scavenger Hunt.  Check it out if you want to participate and e-mail us.

This great article about deciding what to bring at BYOB establishments, written by Dabney Gough of Honolulu Weekly, has a great photo from the Off-Premise 4 event.  All the write-ups on Off-Premise 4 by members of the Grub Club can be found at these following sites:

• One More Plate
• Kyle’s Yelp and WordPress Blog
• Melissa Chang of Nonstop Honolulu’s Urban Mix Plate Blog

Lastly, our awesome photographer has put up the shots from the event on the Flickr photostream.