Master Cheng in Pohjanjoki

I saw this at a recent film festival, and was refreshed by its compassionate and humane plot and characterisation.

It is set in rural Finland. The female lead runs a struggling restaurant popular with the locals but serving the most bland of food (from our point of view). One day, a mysterious and troubled-seeming Chinese gentleman who also happens to be an experienced chef appears out of nowhere. To cut a long story short, he spices things up and takes over the operation of the lady's restaurant.

But this is only incidental; beneath the superficial plot is a deeply tender and inspiring one about two wounded individuals trying to escape the demons of their past, and falling deeply in love in the process, which is conveyed with rare compassion and affection.

This is that rare thing in cinema: a genuinely wholesome film that is never earnest or sentimental, but genuinely entertaining. It struck me that this is perhaps the first film I have seen in a long time where every single character is likeable, and where I genuinely left the cinema feeling somehow purified. Even the at first insular and seemingly xenophobic restaurant regulars show the deepest magnanimity. It's refreshing, and comes highly recommended.