A Touch of Spice (2003) on Netflix
In Istanbul, Fanis learns about food and the planets from his grandfather Vasilis, who sells spices. The family is deported to Athens, and Fanis leaves his first love, Saime, behind.
- Netflix2.7/5
- IMDb7.5/1015,671 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes31%
Trailer
Plot summary
Fanis Iakovidis, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics, looks back on his childhood in Istanbul, where his grandfather Vasilis keeps a general store that specializes in spices and teaches the boy with tricks of his own, using spices in place of the planets of the Solar System. Upstairs at the store, Fanis falls in love for the first time with a young Turkish girl, Saime. When the Greek community of the city is deported, Fanis and his parents leave for Athens while Vasilis stays behind. In Greece the boy spends his time in the kitchen, the one link to the home he has lost, and the skill stays with him as he grows into a cook who knows the cuisine of the city and shares its secrets with anyone who asks.
Cast
- Tassos Bandisas Grandpa Vasilis
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about A Touch of Spice (2003)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The film's story of deportation is drawn from real history: the 1955 Istanbul Pogrom and the 1964 Ankara government decision to renege on the 1930 Greco-Turkish convention, which sent Constantinople's Greek citizens to Greece. The Greek community of Istanbul fell from 135,000 to 7,000 by 1978.
- Politiki Kouzina sold more than 700,000 admissions in Athens and about 1,300,000 nationwide, setting a record for the most admissions ever sold by a Greek film in Greece. As of September 2016 the record still stood.
