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Haute cuisine and the history of the first half of the twentieth century are the main protagonists of a Japanese melodrama that confirms the director of the Oscar-winning 'Farewells' as one of the great names of the current Japanese cinema

Ayu spring rolls , Dream of drunkenness of Persian lady with red wine , Cabbage rolls stuffed with mochi or Veal strip sandwiches are some of the succulent dishes that appear in The Cook of the Last Wishes , a Japanese melodrama directed by Yojiro Takita , Oscar winner for Best Non-English Speaking Movie in 2009 for Farewells . The story of this film presents Mitsuru Sasaki (Kazunari Ninomiya) as a cook with an extraordinary gift that makes a living by accepting very special orders . Thanks to his ability to remember any flavor he has ever tasted in life, Mitsuru is hired by millionaires who claim him in his last days of life to cook that dish that marked them so much in the past.

With this, the protagonist makes possible the last will of the dying while trying to cancel the huge debt he incurred after the closure of his restaurant. In addition to being a chef capable of dazzling his guests no matter how exquisite they are, Mitsuru stands out for being a lonely guy who despairs his collaborators for his high level of demand. A detail that led him to bankruptcy by not being able to maintain in his restaurant creative cuisine that excellence that always demanded those around him. In his personal life, this young chef does not have much time for almost anyone. Even when his friend Ken (Go Ayano), who helped him in his business adventure and now runs a small shop, he asks him to go to the orphanage where they both grew up and attend the teacher's wake there so many teachings he transmitted. Among others, the passion for cooking.

The film takes place in two eras: in the 30s and today

However, one day, Mitsuru's life will turn around after accepting a strange order from Beijing. There he meets QingMing Yang (Yoshi Oida), former chef of the Diaoyutai hotel and a star of Chinese cuisine, who summons him to recreate the Great Imperial Japanese Banquet, a menu devised in the 1930s by chef Naotaro Yamagata (Hidetoshi Nishijima) under the supervision of the Japanese army. If he succeeds, he will receive a large amount of money (50 million yen), which will allow him to settle his debts. The bad thing about that business is that there is no written record of the more than 100 dishes that made up that fabulous dinner, which served to commemorate the union between Japan and China after the invasion of the province of Manchuria by the Japanese country and left as Bequeathed some recipes that disappeared mysteriously to the disgust of any lover of good cuisine.

The investigation carried out by the protagonist of the story leads him to contact Yamagata's assistants, which will bring him many surprises. Among other aspects that are reflected in the tape in the form of flashbacks, Mitsuru discovers that his personality and that of Yamagata are very similar, since both take to the extreme the requirement with their cooks and leave aside any feeling in search of creation perfect Then characters like Chizu (Aoi Miyazaki), Yamagata's wife, or Shotaro Kamata (Daigo Nishihata), his most faithful assistant, parade on the screen. They all worked hundreds of hours in Yamagata's kitchen in the 1930s to dazzle diners. Yamagata, who had previously worked in Paris and in the kitchen department of the Ministry of the Imperial House, will live in his flesh the taste of betrayal and the hardness of a task that will leave a mark on his life, at the same time that Mitsuru reflects on Your own existence.

The film adapts the novel Kirin no Shita wo Motsu Otoko , written in 2014 by Keiichi Tanaka, responsible for the Iron Chef television contest. It would not be strange that many viewers face the film's protagonist familiar: Kazunari Ninomiya was placed under the command of Clint Eastwood, in 2006, in the skin of the main character of Letters from Iwo Jima . In Japan, Ninomiya is considered an idol after having participated in numerous television series and being a member of Arashi, a pop band in which this versatile artist plays guitar and piano.

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