| Director’s notes Like my first film, Honey and Sting, this film is about how desire disrupts harmony. In The Chef’s Letter, a man’s well-ordered life as master of his domain is disrupted when he unexpectedly falls in love. He reacts in the only way he knows, planning the future in his head, presuming he can retain the control he is used to. Committing feelings to paper may crystallise them for him, but for the declaration to be consummated, the letter has to be read. For the chef, writing the letter is a deeply felt authentic act. He takes a long time over it so as to express himself precisely. He needs the structure of a letter to give his feelings shape and form -- for this man, writing the letter is the very act of expressing his love. Yet for a period of time, the letter goes into a state of abeyance represented by the no-man’s land of the pigeon-hole. |