''A Touch of Spice'' (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: ''Πολίτικη Κουζίνα/Politiki Kouzina)'' is a 2003 Greek film directed by

Tassos Boulmetis Tassos is a Greek male given name, which is a variant of Anastasios and means "resurrection".''Greek Names''"Tassos" Retrieved on 30 January 2016. The name may refer to: * Tassos Denegris (1934–2009), Greek poet * Tassos Isaac (1972–1996), Gr ...

and starring

Georges Corraface Georges Corraface (, ''Giórgos Chorafás''; born December 7, 1952, in Paris, France) is a French actor of Greek descent. He performed in film and television, following many years in French theatre, notably as a member of the International Cente ...

as the character of the adult Fanis Iakovides. The character of Fanis Iakovides as a child is played by Markos Osse and the supporting role of Fanis's grandfather, Vassilis, is played by Tassos Bandis.

Name

The original Greek title is ''Πολίτικη Κουζίνα (Politiki Kouzina)'' which means ''Cuisine of the City'' and refers to the Cuisine of

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. However, in the film's promotional materia

the word ''Politiki'' of the title is depicted in capital letters, therefore allowing an alternative reading of the title, due to the lack of stress marks, as ''Πολιτική Κουζίνα (Politiki Kouzina)'' which means ''Political Cuisine'' signifying the important role that politics played in the lives of the main characters.

Plot

Fanis Iakovides, professor of

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

and

astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the ...

, recalls his childhood memories from growing up in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. When Fanis was 7 years old, his grandfather Vassilis was an owner of a

general store A general merchant store (also known as general merchandise store, general dealer, village shop, or country store) is a rural or small-town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, someti ...

with a specialty in

spices In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of pl ...

. He was also a culinary

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and his mentor. Fanis grew very attached to his grandfather who would assist with his homework using imaginative techniques. For instance, Vassilis would teach his grandson the planets of the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...

by showing an illustration of it and replacing the planets with spices.

Cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, biscuits, b ...

took the place of

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

since according to Vassilis, "like all women, cinnamon is both bitter and sweet". Fanis also fell in love for the first time in his grandfather store's upper floor with a young Turkish girl, Saime. However, beginning with the

Istanbul Pogrom The Istanbul pogrom, also known as the Istanbul riots, were a series of state-sponsored anti-Greek mob attacks directed primarily at Istanbul's Greek minority on 6–7 September 1955. The pogrom was orchestrated by the governing Democrat ...

in 1955, through 1978, the ethnic Greek community of Istanbul was reduced from 135,000 to 7,000 by a series of government orchestrated riots, pogroms and deportations. Most of Fanis' family is deported in 1964 with the Ankara government decision to renege on the 1930 Greco-Turkish Ankara Convention, affirming the right of Greek etablis (Greeks who were born and lived in Istanbul but held Greek citizenship) to live and work in Turkey, and most Greek citizens who lived in Constantinople were deported to Greece, despite most never having previously resided there. Since Vassilis was not a dual citizen, he was able to stay behind while his grandson Fanis and his parents were deported to

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. Fanis had trouble initially adapting in Greece, constantly trying to spend his time in the kitchen cooking, as it was the only link between him and his homeland. However, this would upset his mother who was afraid that the boy was either severely depressed or a

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...

. Fanis grew from childhood to adulthood, preserving his culinary talents and often offering his secrets of the Politiki Cuisine to those that ask for his help. As the years passed by, and the tension between Turkey and Greece resolved, grandfather Vassilis made several promises to visit his grandson in Athens but failed to keep them. The reason for the final incompletion of this engagement was his rapidly declining health. Consequently, Fanis returns to Constantinople after three decades to visit his near-death grandfather and also runs into his old love, Saime, who is now married. Together, they reflect on their lives and the way politics managed to change everything. Fanis will eventually realize that contrary to what his grandfather had taught him, he forgot to put a little bit of "spice in his own life".

Analysis

The main characters easily fit into a parallel metaphor - Saime, the old love of Fanis, a beautiful Turkish girl and multi-lingual tour guide, represents Istanbul (a cosmopolitan city called a "she" in Greek), Fanis is modern Greece, one that is still deeply in love with Constantinople and nostalgic for the past, while Saime's husband is a Turkish military doctor who represents a modern, pragmatic Turkey.

Cast

as Fanis Iakovidis ** Odysseas Papaspiliopoulos as Fanis - 18 years old ** Markos Osse as Fanis - 8 years old * Ieroklis Michaelidis as Savvas Iakovidis * Renia Louizidou as Soultana Iakovidou *

Tamer Karadağlı Tamer Karadağlı (born 24 May 1967) is a Turkish actor and director of Turkish State Theatres. Biography Tamer Karadağlı's family originated in Sarıkamış, Kars Province, and moved to America a short time after he was born. They returned ...

as Mustafa *

Başak Köklükaya Başak Köklükaya (born 19 April 1974) is a Turkish actress. She has appeared in more than 20 films and television shows since 1989. She starred in '' The Confession'', which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2002 Cannes Film ...

as Saime **

Gökçe Akyıldız Gökçe Akyıldız (born 30 October 1992) is a Turkish actress. She appeared in different films and television series as well as Zozan Fırat in ''Hayat Devam Ediyor'', Aslı in '' Fatih Harbiye'' and Songül in ''Kırgın Çiçekler.'' Biogr ...

as little Saime * Tassos Bandis as Grandpa Vasilis *

Stelios Mainas Stelios Mainas (; born 1 October 1957 in Ermoupoli, Syros) is a Greece, Greek actor. He graduated Veakis Drama School in 1982 and has been working as a stage, cinema and television actor ever since. His first film role was in the 1984 movie ''Lo ...

as Uncle Aimilios * Thodoros Exarhos as Thrasyvoulos *

Athinodoros Prousalis Athinodoros Prousalis or Proussalis (; 15 December 1926 – 5 June 2012) was a Greek film and television actor. Biography He was born in Istanbul, Turkey. He died in Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and ...

as Iordanis * Kakia Panagiotou as Aunt Elpiniki * Dina Mihailidou as Dorothea * Themis Panou as Osman Beis

Reception

Box office

''Politiki Kouzina'' was released nationwide in Greece on Friday, 24 October 2003. It sold 62,091 admissions on its opening weekend (Friday-to-Sunday), with other reports putting it at an estimated 65,000 admissions, including 46,500 admissions in Athens. It went on to sell 33,000 admissions on a single day, 28 October, a national holiday. In Athens its second, third, and fourth weekends were well above its opening weekend in terms of admissions. It remained in first place there for 6 consecutive weekends, in the top 10 for 17 consecutive weekends. By the end of its run ''Politiki Kouzina'' had sold more than 700,000 admissions in Athens alone out of a total of about 1,300,000 admissions nationwide setting a record among Greek films for the most admissions sold in Greece. As of September 2016 this record still stands. ''Politiki Kouzina'' also ranks as second best in terms of admissions among all films (Greek and foreign) behind ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...

''. Other reports put the nationwide total at 1,600,000, 1,560,000 or 1,277,902 admissions.

Awards

winner: *2003:

Greek State Film Awards The Greek State Film Awards () was a part of Thessaloniki International Film Festival concerning exclusively Greek movies. It was one of the most important events in Greek cinema, from its institution in 1992 until 2008. Until 1991, only Greek mov ...

for Best Film *2003:

for Best Director (Tassos Boulmetis) *2003:

for Best Screenplay (Tassos Boulmetis) *2003:

for Best Music (Evanthia Reboutsika) *2003:

for Best Cinematography *2003:

for Best Editing *2003:

for Best Set Design *2003:

for Best Sound

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Touch Of Spice 2003 films 2003 comedy-drama films Films set in Greece 2000s Greek-language films 2000s Turkish-language films 2000s English-language films English-language Greek films English-language Turkish films English-language French films Films set in 1964 Films set in Istanbul Films set in Athens Films shot in Athens Cooking films Films about the Istanbul pogrom Greek multilingual films Turkish multilingual films 2003 multilingual films French multilingual films English-language comedy-drama films Greek-language comedy-drama films