Ratatouille – The Review

Pixar strikes gold yet again with this delightful, thoughtful, touching and meaningful movie with absolutely mind-boggling abundance of creativity in every second of the film. Ratatouille may be the first Pixar movie that is so advanced, so sophisticated, it doesn’t feel like it was made for kids. This film is so much more than a cartoon.

It has deep meanings of life and happiness. It’s all about fulfilling your dreams. About going beyond preconceived notions and boundaries. And at the end, it’s simply about following your heart and living life doing what you’re passionate about.

This movie takes the most vile, hated and disease ridden species of animals in the history of the world and then makes them cuddly, cute and adorable. That is just ingenious craziness! Adding to that, it is cleverly scripted, genuinely humorous and it touches your heart and reaches your soul effortlessly and almost instantly. It combines cartoon fun with the rich beauty and romance of Paris, the value of family and friends and most importantly the wonders of food.

Food is the heart and soul of the film. It deserves a special mention. Expertly created and executed scenes with the life and happenings in an restaurant kitchen (esp. a French one!) are just breath taking with extensive attention to detail. Be it the juicy, ripe lemons being squeezed and zested, fresh scallops being pan seared with white wine, baby corn and peppers being sautéed, leeks so real looking, the world renowned French omelete exquisite looking on that white plate, fresh herbs like dill, rosemary, oregano and basil, even to the extent of using dried garlic and leeks for the soup where just out of this world. I could almost smell and taste all of this while I was seeing the movie!

The grand finale of sorts, the last culinary creation in the film, the signature dish, the “Ratatouille” was magnificent. The colors from vegetables , The yellow from squash, green from zucchini, purple from eggplant, red from onions, white from potatoes,  the sauces, the garnishes, the copper bake dish it was made in, the way this colorful delight was served against the white plate(true French style) was an out of the world experience. A disrespected, disregarded mere-peasant dish has been given a new life in the world of gourmet.

The cherry on the top was Remy using a drop of water to wash his hands expertly like a real chef does and Peter O’ Toole as the food critic Anton Ego. Simply superb.  This film is highly seasoned, layered with complex flavors and has the perfectly needed sweetness at the finish. C’est magnifique!

The movie gets a 10 out of 10

Ratatouille – All about the food

Food deserves a special mention, an honorary one infact. Two dishes prominently featured in the movie are the “Confit Byaldi” and of course the “Ratatouille”.You can find their recipes here – Confit Byaldi; Ratatouille

“A challenge for the filmmakers was creating computer-generated food animations that would appear delicious. Gourmet chefs (in both the US and France) were consulted, and animators attended cooking classes at San Francisco-area culinary schools, to understand the workings of a commercial kitchen. Sets/Layout Dept Manager Michael Warch, a culinary-academy trained professional chef prior to working at Pixar, helped teach and consult animators as they worked. He also prepared dishes used by the Art, Shade/Paint, Effects and Sets Modeling Departments. Celebrity chef Thomas Keller allowed producer Brad Lewis to intern in his French Laundry kitchen.For the film’s climax Keller designed a fancy layered version of the title dish for the rat characters to cook, which he called “confit biyaldi” in honor of the original Turkish name. While new programs gave an organic texture and movement to the food. Completing the illusion was music, dialogue, and abstract imagery that represent the characters’ mental sensations while appreciating food.The visual flavor metaphors were created by animator Michal Gagné.  To create a realistic looking compost pile, the Art Department photographed fifteen different kinds of produce, such as apples, berries, bananas, mushrooms, oranges, broccoli and lettuce, in the process of rotting.” *From Wikipedia 

Ratatouille – The Story

Rémy (Patton Oswalt) lives in a rat colony in the attic of a French country home with his brother Émile (Peter Sohn) and his father Django (Brian Dennehy). Unlike his kin, Rémy is a gourmet whose keen sense of smell is used by the colony only to detect rat poison in food. But Rémy yearns for more, sneaking into the kitchen to read the cookbook of his hero, Parisian chef Auguste Gusteau (Brad Garrett), who appears to Rémy in visions throughout the film to expound on his motto that “anyone can cook.” Rémy learns that Gusteau died after a harsh review from mean-spirited food critic Anton Ego (Peter O’Toole).

The rats flee the house when the resident, an old woman, discovers the colony. Rémy, separated from the others, floats in the storm drains to Paris on Gusteau’s cookbook, following the chef’s image to his namesake restaurant, now run by former sous-chef Skinner (Ian Holm). As Rémy watches from a kitchen skylight, Alfredo Linguini (Lou Romano), a young man with no culinary talent, arrives and is hired on at the request of his recently deceased mother to do janitorial duties. The boy, unknown to all but his mother, is in fact Gusteau’s son. Linguini spills a pot of soup and attempts to cover up his mistake by adding nearby random ingredients. Horrified by Linguini’s actions, Rémy falls into the kitchen and though desperately trying to escape, cannot help but stop and attempt to fix the ruined soup. Rémy is caught in the act by Linguini, who himself is caught by Skinner as he captures the rat, but not before some of the soup has been served. To everyone’s surprise the soup is a success. The kitchen’s sole woman cook, Colette (Janeane Garofalo), convinces Skinner not to fire Linguini provided he can recreate the soup. And thus begins an alliance, uneasy at first, by which Rémy secretly directs Linguini. The two perfect a marionette-like arrangement by which Rémy tugs at Linguini’s hair to control his movements and stays hidden under Linguini’s toque blanche.

Skinner discovers that Linguini is Gusteau’s son, which he hides to prevent Linguini from inheriting the restaurant, which would thwart his ambitions of exploiting Gusteau’s image to market prepared frozen dinners. Suspicious of Linguini, Skinner plies him with fine wine in an unsuccessful attempt to discover the secret of his unexpected talents. The next morning, hung over and disheveled, Linguini nearly confides his secret to Colette. Desperately trying to stop Linguini, Rémy pulls his hair, making him fall on Colette, leading the two to kiss. They begin dating, leaving Rémy feeling abandoned.

One night Rémy and his colony are reunited. Rémy argues with Emile and his father over his new career as a secret chef. In the process of scrounging food for the clan Rémy discovers Gusteau’s will which, after a chase by Skinner, he presents to Linguini. Linguini now owns the restaurant, fires Skinner, and becomes a rising star in the culinary world, attracting renewed interest from Anton Ego, who had written off the restaurant for dead. Linguini and Rémy have a falling out, Linguini deciding he no longer needs Rémy, and Rémy retaliating to the snub by leading a kitchen raid for his rat colony.

Things come to a head the night of a planned review by Ego. Linguini, unable to cook without the rat’s guidance, admits his ruse to the staff when Remy shows up, leading them all to walk out. Colette returns after thinking through Gusteau’s motto. Django, inspired by his son’s courage, returns with the entire rat colony to cook under Rémy’s direction, while Linguini, discovering his true talent, waits tables on roller skates. Colette helps Rémy prepare ratatouille, a dish so good that, in the climax of the film, a bite of the dish leads Ego to relive childhood memories of his mother serving him the dish as comfort food. Ego asks to meet the chef, but Colette tells him he must wait until the rest of the diners have left. At the end of the service, Rémy and the rats are revealed. A changed man, Ego writes a glowing review, declaring that the chef at Gusteau’s is the greatest chef in all of France.

In the denouement the restaurant is closed by a health inspector, who finds the rats after being tipped off by Skinner. Ego loses his credibility and job when the public discovers he has praised a rat-infested restaurant. Everything is for the best, however. With Ego as investor and regular patron, Linguini, Colette, and Rémy open a successful new bistro called “La Ratatouille,” which includes a kitchen and dining facilities for both rats and humans.