Ukrainian cinema has always impressed viewers with its originality and originality of plots. The new film "Taste of Freedom" was no exception. This is an exciting motivational comedy with elements of fantasy, in which the talented actress Irma Vitovska plays the main role.
Today, Irma Vitovska is the number one film actress in Ukraine. Recently, she has published the following paintings: "My Quiet Thoughts" (2020), "Cosa Nostra. Mom is going" (2022), "Kings of rap" (2023), "Between us (2023). Two comedies, a drama and a thriller. The genre of the new film "Taste of Freedom" states that it is a "romantic comedy." However, the main plot trick in it is pure fantasy: Irma plays Olga Franko (1896-1987), who periodically "resurrects" from her own book of Ukrainian recipes from 1929 to mentor a novice cook, but an ambitious cook - our present. Focus analyzes the pros and cons of the premiere picture.
Director Oleksandr Berezan is not the first to turn to the genre of a film about success, for example, in 2019 he shot the tape "Come on, dance!" about a dancer who came to conquer the Ukrainian capital: such strong-willed men's cinema with fierce competition. But here is a female motivational story with the first series of Ukrainian stars: Rimma Zyubina, Dmytro Surzhikov, Irma Vitovska. And one Polish guest was the actor Tomasz Sobchak.
The main role is played by the young actress Iryna Kudashova ("School", "Another Franko"). She plays a cute girl-cook Varya, who experiments with unusual dishes in a roadside cafe. But she loses her job, because no one needs her haute cuisine here: it is difficult to explain to truck drivers what "poach" is. An energetic young lady runs away from home in search of fulfillment. And here is our heroine in Lviv, sparkling with yellow lights.
Of course, a rented apartment, practically, without amenities. But - oh my - by chance the girl discovers there the book "The First Ukrainian General-Practical Kitchen (1929) by Olga Franko from Lviv - the wife of the same son of the classic Pyotr Franko, whose film Focus recently wrote about. In her work, Olga created a symbiosis of Ukrainian and Austrian cuisines, since she once completed culinary courses in Vienna. Thanks to the cinematography, we bring half-forgotten historical figures back to our consciousness, which is not bad at all for national self-identification.
At the same time, Varya unsuccessfully storms restaurants. And almost despairs. But here she comes to her aid... Olga Franko in her own person (Irma Vitovska). The lady is elegantly dressed, wearing a fancy hat. She begins to mentor the girl. But at first she threatens to call the police, then suspects that she has started glitches due to failures. However, the authors (screenwriter Olena Morentsova-Shulyk) do not explain to us too much how this phenomenon with visions happened. Was there a fairy in the fairy tale about Cinderella? Was Well, here Olga Franko plays the role of a kind bookish fairy-mentor. What's more, she comes to Vara's aid more than once, but regularly appears when the clouds thicken over the girl's head.
Next is a rather typical set of the struggle for a place under the sun of "Restaurant No. 1", where there is a conflict between the chef (Tomas Sobchak) and the owner of the establishment (Dmytro Surzhikov). The main duel, as is often the case in Ukrainian films, is between women: Varya and the chef's assistant Lesya (Tetyana Malkova).
Also, of course, Vara has a neighbor "drenched" by her - this is a wonderful, tall, blue-eyed programmer Taras, played by Kostyantyn Temlyak: a competitor of the Ukrainian sex symbol Roman Lutsky appeared, who appeared in "Storozova Zastava" (2017) and " Devoted" (2020).
In the last film, there was literally an aesthetic cult of the culinary component of Austria-Hungary (time of action: the end of the XIX - the beginning of the XX centuries). And in "Taste of Freedom" the culinary line is well captured: one cannot help but admire the art of salad preparation, when even the greens are laid out, as if in ikebana. The picture focuses on some specific borscht, cooked on beetroot kvass (what is it - a mystery?), which was drunk from glasses. And there was a cutlet, but not a simple one, but "Duke Nelson", which looks like a meat roll.
Cons. Predictability. Romantic stamps. Abuse of Lviv landscapes shot from drones — all this is done in the style of a series, not a full meter, and has no symbolic meaning, except for “beauty”.
In general, the film story turned out to be light, sparkling, mostly designed for female viewers. An almost perfect "weekend picture".
