THE KITCHEN
US, 2019, 102 minutes, Colour.
Melissa Mc Carthy, Tiffany Haddish, Elisabeth Moss, Domhnall Gleason, James Badge Dale, Brian D’ Arcy James, Jeremy Bobb, Margo Martindale, Bill Camp, Common, Wayne Duvall.
Directed by Andrea Berloff.
Welcome to a conscienceless and murderous world. The Kitchen is not a domestic room but, rather, New York’s Hell’s Kitchen, an area with a bad reputation in the early part of the 20th century but not looking very good in the late 1970s. Protection is the racket – and, here, no holds barred.
Immersed in this kind of world, one feels the need of some kind of cleansing after emerging from the cinema.
The screenplay is based on comics, graphic novels, and has that kind of imagery and characterisation, some terse aggressive dialogue, subtlety not the order of the day. And, from the beginning of the movies and, certainly, with the development of television crime series, many of us are more or less at home in this kind of mobster world. While we have seen it all before, the protagonists were all men, Capos of Mafia families, wild Irish in the case of Hell’s Kitchen. And the men were thugs, almost unmitigated thugs.
And, as this film opens, 1978, the men dominate, thugs, and particularly brutal towards their wives. The difference here is that the men soon go to prison leaving their wives to struggle with finances, some envelope payments but not enough for needs. What are the wives to do?
So, what is distinctive about The Kitchen (the screenplay written and directed by a woman, Andrea Perloff) is that the women step up to the mark, initially taking over some of the protection, clashing with the local head, taking away some of his men for standover tactics. There are no limits to contracts and kills. Storekeepers who have felt they didn’t get value for money from the protectors are happy to handed over to the women. Needless to say, they succeed, expand, build up a mini-Empire not only in Hell’s Kitchen but extending to the Jewish neighbourhood and with links to the Mafia in Brooklyn.
The women become ruthless, more ruthless and murderous activity than we might have anticipated. And that is the thing about the film, how much do we anticipate? Just because the men go to jail, does it mean that the women step up and simply take their place, do the very same things that the men did? In fact, that is what they do, take over the power, become violent (sometimes gruesomely so), build up their money, increase their greed. It seems that they just become substitutes for the men in the exercise of power whereas the ideal for women stepping into roles and responsibilities that were the exclusive area for men, offers simply more of the same, right or wrong. The women’s movements ideally are for the empowering of women, positive transcending of their previous roles in stasis for the better – not, as has been said, just same kind of substitutes for the men.
One can’t criticise the performances, Melissa Mc Carthy showing that she can be serious, Tiffany Haddish surprising us that she is not limited to broad comic roles, Elizabeth Moss showing that she should be can be assertive rather than mousy. The men, except for Domhnall Gleeson as a calmly unscrupulous hitman, perform as expected.
This is an ugly world where any kind of redemption seems to be solely on materialistic and power levels rather than healing, reconciliation or forgiveness.
1. The title? Hell’s Kitchen? It is reputation? In the 30s? The late 70s and early 80s?
2. The locations, Hell’s Kitchen itself, streets, apartments, stores? The Jewish section? Brooklyn and the Italians? A New York story? The musical score?
3. Protection, mobsters? The Irish in capitals Kitchen? Storekeepers and businesses paying for protection, not getting it? The women taking over, building up an empire, tactics and strategies, gaining power, greed increasing, using violence and murder?
4. The three men, their relationship with their wives, love, mixed race issues, brutality and subjugation? Their agreement to do the job? FBI surveillance? Their being arrested? The court case, in prison, Katherine visiting, the other is not? Irish protection, the envelopes for the wives, insufficient money? The local boss, the jobs?
5. Jackie, the domination of his mother, his character, his control, attitudes, refusing the women more money? His being killed? Ruby and the encounters with his mother, her wanting alone, pushing down the stairs and killing her?
6. The background of Catholic Church, the priests, rituals, especially funerals?
7. kathy, her family, love for her husband, children? Her relationship with her parents, her father’s criticisms about her marriage? Visiting her husband in prison? The discussions with Claire Ruby, coming to a decision, the meetings and agreements, the various steps, visiting the owners and managers, making the deals? Using Jackie’s men for stand over tactics? The success, building up their empire?
8. Kathy, her character, the boss, the Irish background, her kids, wanting to improve the connections, time passing, the greater number of people relying on their protection? Clear, the money, her being determined? Ruby, racial issues, the husband and mother-in-law? Her style of command?
9. Gabriel, his role, in the past, his return, a hitman, the deaths, cutting up the bodies, the bodies in the bath, the techniques, the bodies in the river? The relationship with Claire? Teaching her how to cut the bodies? How to kill? They’re both growing in confidence, the relationship?
10. The vision visit to the Jewish section, issues of protection, connections with Brooklyn? The Jewish meeting, the man dissenting, his being murdered?
11. The visit to Brooklyn, the Italian boss, the car and the driver, the meeting, Kathy and interrogation, the deals? The encounter with the boss’s wife and her caution? The later minding the children? Expansion of business, the contracts, to kill the women? And the revenge in killing the men?
12. Husbands getting out, the meetings with their wives, the repetition of the past, the repercussions?
13. The attack, Claire and her being killed? Gabriel and his wanting revenge?
14. Frank, the clash with Ruby, her shooting him?
15. The FBI agents, the young man and his phone call, his being shot? The revelation that his boss was corrupt, in league with Ruby, engineering the initial arrest? Money deals with her?
16. Katherine, her husband, the talks with her father, going to the Italians, his being killed? The funeral?
17. Ruby and Katherine meeting, taking tough stances, conscienceless, the confrontation and working together? The revelation about Ruby in league with the FBI?
18. The tradition of films about Hell’s kitchen, about protection rackets in New York City?
