A love close to paradise, a Finnish gem

They may argue that when there is true love, nothing can stop it, but no one in their right mind will say that Love near paradise is not trembling, trembling and drumming on that subject.

A Chinese man arrives with his son at a restaurant in a small town in Finland. “Fongtron,” he said. Find Fongtron. Even the owner and cook and waitress, or those she regularly asks, after bowing her body to greet, do not know what or who she is referring to.

Tired and obviously penniless, he fainted sleeping on the table. Sirkka, the owner, offers him a place to sleep, and when one day a group of Chinese tourists arrive and they don’t want to eat the buffet menu, Cheng, which is the name of the newcomer , intervened, he would be asked to buy. noodles and chicken and prepare an exquisite.

“Delicious cooking makes people happy,” said Cheng, who we don’t know, but is a chef at a major restaurant in Shanghai. But he keeps looking, in Finland, for “Fongtron”.

To eat reindeer with herbs

And there, in Pojopoki, he would take care of the kitchen, without accepting euros, because he didn’t want Sirkka to pay him. So now the dish of the day is reindeer with herbs. About Chinese perch soup.

And everyone likes it, of course, the group of Chinese tourists – who get off the bus carrying camera sticks to take selfies – as well as local school students, the usual eaters, most of them adults , the elderly. house and even the two policemen, including the one who asked “Does the Asian cook always work here?”

“Eat slowly, chewing is good for the stomach,” he advises. Cheng knows them all, as tea should be drunk in water at 80 degrees.

Mika Kaurismäkilike his younger brother here, has a gift in his genes, and that is the development of his characters in a lovely way. If the director of The man has no past either Port with a pessimistic look that turns optimistic, Mika solves everything in A love near paradise with short brushstrokes of dialogue. Most funny.

“How can I find a man? Sirkka asked Cheng. They’re all over sixty, or married, or drunk, or both. “Or” In Finland we say what we think. Don’t be right, it’s just confusing. ”

Everyone will have their own secret, cook, fall in love, how to throw the bait before throwing it in the water and fisherman. And if you eat well, healthy, expensive too.

“A Love Near Paradise”

Very good

Dramatic comedy. Finland, 2019. Original title: “Mestari Cheng”. 114 ‘, ATP L. from: Mika Kaurismäki. may: Mr. Hon Chu, Anna-Maija Tuokko, Lucas Hsuan. Rooms: Cinemark Palermo, Showcase Norcenter, Cabildo Multiplex.