Station Screening - The Hundred Foot Journey

Synopsis

Forced to flee their Indian homeland for political reasons the Kadam family figure they’ll be safer in a picturesque village in the south of France. They have reckoned without the formidable Madam Mallory (Helen Mirren) though. M. Mallory strongly objects to Papa Kadam’s (Om Puri) plans to open an Indian curry house a hundred feet away from her own Michelin starred fine dining establishment. Papa’s son Hassan (Manish Dayal) begins a romance with Mallory’s sous chef Marguerite (Charlotte Le Bon) inspired by their shared love of food, but the escalating conflict between the two establishments threatens their relationship.

Key Players

Om Puri – Indian actor who has worked regularly in Britain most notably in patriarchal roles such as the taxi driver bewildered by his son’s radicalisation in My Son the Fanatic (97, Uduyan Prasad), and in the comedy is East is East (99, Damien O’ Donnell).

Helen Mirren - That's Dame Helen to us. Mirren’s early work tended to be with visionary directors like Ken Russell and Tinto Brass. Mainstream success followed with the Prime Suspect series and films like The Comfort of Strangers (90, Paul Schrader) and Gosford Park (2001, Robert Altman). There’s a royal tinge around Mirren these days having played both Elizabeth I and Elizabeth II recently.

Steven Knight - The Hundred Foot Journey marks a change of pace for screenwriter Steven Knight whose previous work includes writing the gritty thrillers Dirty Pretty Things (2002, Stephen Frears) and Eastern Promises (2007, David Cronenberg). Knight also directed the ever so slightly mental Jason Statham action film Hummingbird (13). All three are London based movies with a strong feeling for those on the margins of society. Even the Statham movie.

Lasse Hallstrom – Swedish director who learned his trade making music videos for Abba. After winning acclaim for the sensitive coming of age drama My Life as a Dog (85) Hallstrom moved to America. His US debut, the quirky What's Eating Gilbert Grape? helped propel Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio to movie stardom. Since then Hallstrom has worked mostly on literary adaptations including John Irving's The Cider House Rules (98), Annie Proux's The Shipping News (2001), and recent Station screening Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (12) based on the novel by the late Paul Torday.