LA COCINA World Cinema

Screening to be followed by a conversation with director and writer Alonso Ruizpalacios.

Mexican auteur Alonso Ruizpalacios (A COP MOVIE) brings new meaning to kitchen-sink realism in his adaptation of British playwright Arnold Wesker’s “The Kitchen,” which debuted at the Berlin Film Festival. Transferring the action from mid-century London to present-day New York City, the film is a tragicomic tribute to life behind the scenes of a busy Times Square restaurant. Shifting between the balletic machinations of a kitchen during the lunchtime rush and the explosive interpersonal conflicts boiling just beneath the surface of its well-oiled routine, Ruizpalacios crafts a high-wire drama that explores the illusions of the American dream and the lengths to which the kitchen’s working class and largely undocumented staff must go to achieve it. At the heart of the brilliant ensemble cast is Raúl Briones (A COP MOVIE) as Mexican chef Pedro, a fiery-tempered dreamer entangled in a turbulent affair with Julia (Oscar®-nominated actress Rooney Mara), a harried waitress with her own crosses to bear. When $800 goes missing and everyone becomes a suspect, the resulting tension threatens to push the kitchen’s unrelenting pace and hierarchical divisions further into chaos. –Abbie Algar