La Cocina

Mar del Plata Film Festival #15 La Cocina This films tells the story of a kitchen brimming with illegal immigrants with the particular hook that someone stole money from the cashier. When the film starts we are already submerged into the action and pacing with its incredible cinematography in black and white, shifting from 4:3 and 16:9 depending if we are inside the kitchen or outside, also showing the pressure that's needed for someone to work in that environment too. Maybe I am too bilingual, too latin but I fell in love in how much spanglish there is in this film, it felt kinda like home for me as a spanish and english native speaker. How to tell a story about love, about dreams through the chaos and naturalistic surrounding of a friday night in the back of a restaurant. Falling in love with a "gringa", "amor a primera VISA". The dialogues were also stunning. The homeless talking philosophically about the Times Square, definitely criticizing how many people go to take a picture at the Times Square but its just 1 square, nothing makes it special. And we are being constantly reminded of this fact, of the fact that "AMERICA IS NOT A COUNTRY" or that changing our language to live somewhere else can be tough for someone. "No puedo ni llorar en español" (I cant even cry in Spanish). Something I felt deep sympathy with from the get go cause it was literally me travelling outside of Argentina living abroad, without speaking a word of spanish and kinda forgetting how I sounded speaking it in a way. La Cocina goes beyond in narrative, in cinematography, in composition, it shows us the emotions and reality of many versions of all of these characters. Im probably not lying when I say this is one of my favourite films from the year. Its just a blast. Ill rewatch it soon if possible 100%