User reviews

I lived in Finland briefly, and watching this film made me homesick for my time there. It has an excellent sense of place and effectively evokes both Finnish and Chinese cultures. It's a quiet, thoughtful movie that takes its time. Showing an evolving romance between people from two famously reserved cultures takes special skill, but the tender performances really make it land. There were a couple of places where I felt things could have been heightened a bit, but that may also be because of the culture I'm from. I really enjoyed this, and I'd definitely watch it again.

I'm Chinese so was puzzled with the title when I happened to turn onto Netflix this evening. What a pleasant surprise watching this film and bringing back food memories seeing him cook those dishes. Setting was unusual -in Finland and actors were extremely understated so no Hollywood frills which made this movie very different and lovely to watch. Blend of some Chinese music as well as times and I was so happy that I could understand the Chinese language even though I had not used it for years due to me living in Denmark for 20 years. The landscapes were just breathtaking.

A quiet story about a budding romance between two loners and the power of food. Nothing special, but charming in its simplicity - this movie doesn't WANT to be special, it just presents the characters (and landscape) in a relaxed, unagitated manner. There's exactly one urgent situation in the film (it concerns the boy) and that gets resolved in about one minute.

Not exactly required viewing, but for a nice evening, you can do worse than give this movie a chance.

'Master Cheng' exhibits the essentials of a great film, much like the directorial films of Clint Eastwood. Low budget, small cast, limited location, but an excellent story and excellent use of both actors and location settings.

From the start of the film, I was slowly drawn in. I was kept in by the strong performances of the lead characters, as well as the mystery and emotional undertones of the two main leads.

If you're a film student, this film is certainly one to watch, as it demonstrates the critical attributes of a good movie. If you are a film-lover, as I am, I highly recommend this film as a very refreshing change from all the CGI or 'guns and explosion' laden films that we are bombarded with. This film made me want to seek out other films of this kind.

Enjoy!

'Mestari Cheng', the film of the Finnish director Mika Kaurismäki, which opened last night at the local cinematheque the Nordic film festival, is one of those films for which as a spectator you cannot refrain from feeling sympathy and emotion despite your instincts and knowledge of movie fan, a film that makes the most of the melodrama's tools, demonstrating what can be reached within this genre but also what are its limitations if the director falls too rigorously into the pattern and adds nothing personal. The central theme of the festival that started is the migration, immigration, emigration, with their hardships and suffering but also with the cultural and human opportunities opened by the people's movement and the meetings of the cultures. 'Mestari Cheng' ('Chef Cheng') fits in well with itstheme and is likely to be loved by many viewers.

There is a second main theme in the film - that of culinary art as a means of meeting people and bringing cultures together. This is not an original theme either, but it is the one that manages to attract best the attention and arise emotion. Food as a feeling and as a philosophy, as a communication medium and as a universal cure for the health of the body but especially of the soul. The story of the chef from Shanhai that fate brings to a hamlet in northern Finland, far removed from the world but miraculous as a natural landscape and rich in human landscape could happen anytime and anywhere on our planet today. The reasons that bring the man along with his eight-year-old boy to a country that is from many points of view on the opposite poles of China are different from those of economic migrants, and the connection between him and the local woman is more than the meeting of two lonelinesses marked by personal traumas from each one's past.

The film manages to create a believable world on screen, with characters we seem to know although they belong to cultures that are so different and different from ours. The merit belongs in particular to the excellent team of actors. The two actors cast in the lead roles, Pak Hon Chu and Anna-Maija Tuokko, develop interesting and complex characters, and the 'chemistry' between them is visible and transmitted to the public. Some of the supporting characters are also well-shaped appearances. And yet, beyond a certain moment (and that moment was quite early during the projection) I had a sense of repetition, of deja vu, of predictability, of tourist-cultural propaganda. I think the problem is the too rich a collection of stereotypes and common places about the relationships between men and women, about Chinese and Finns, about emigrants and locals opening their hearts to and for the visitors, about the relationships between overworked fathers and their children who miss their presence in their lives, about loneliness, mourning, tolerance and intolerance. The film has good chances to be very successful in China, but it has something to offer to viewers in other parts of the world. It's hard not to be impressed by the acting and the natural emotions caused by the intrigue, this I propose to those who will see the film, not even try to resist them. The final sensation was, to me at least, similar to that of hearing famous music in kitch versions of the like of Clayderman or André Rieu. But there are, I know, many, many, many Clayderman and Rieu fans in the world.

I had never heard of this movie before I watched it, as I stumbled across it by accident while browsing Netflix. The description didn't reveal much about the plot, but I decided to give it a try - and I'm so glad I did.

This is a delightful movie: funny, moving and heartwarming. "Mestari Cheng" is an entertaining feel-good movie, still it has plenty of depth. It will possibly make you tear up once or twice, while causing you to laugh out loud at other parts. The acting performances are solid and the scenery is stunning.

"Mestari Cheng" provides a completely new way of looking at international (Finnish-Chinese) relations and culture clashes. It is not like anything I have ever watched before, yet it is brilliant. This film definitely deserves more recognition. Do yourself a favour and watch it!

I would recommend it to those who seek to see beautiful Finnish landscapes and a delicate, loving story unravel itself. It's quiet and peaceful, full of beauty and kindness!

I stumbled upon this movie by accident and quite early in the movie I was taken by it. Beautiful scenery, good cast and heartwarming story.

It's worth a watch, bit of old Finnish culture with beautiful nature of Lapland, mixed with Chinese culture.

If you are not living in the North of Scandinavia And din't like chinees cultur and food, this movie is difficult to understand. For urban people 'Babette's Feast' with a French Chef comming to Denmark some hundret years ago. This film has heartwarming elements we see. Not often anymore, because the drama departement and action department does their job and can destroy any movie. This movie don't need 100 carcrashes and lots of drama to get tears in your eyes and get the human aspect in focus. Also how our health and the food we eat is totally connected. We have forgotten that aspect and just realy on Pharmaindustri and hope pills can save us.

No! Food is our medicin. Nothing else. A good and honest movie.

Warm, slow story, with Finnish humour and beautiful Lapland landscapes. If you know Finnish mentality and you like it, then this movie is for you. Female actres great role. Film filled my heart with love to Lapland, although I haven't yet been there.

This is an excellent movie in many ways. The storyline and the way it is filmed is realistic, actors are very talented and the sceneries magnificent. It is a touching film but not in a corny way. The two old men are famous Finnish actors and they play their part so well that it does not even feel like they are acting (more like a documentary). It´s a feel good movie that will make you hungry, especially if you like Chinese cuisine.

I do not often rate movies, and can´t remember ever giving a 9 at Imbd, but this one deserved one.

With me having traveled the north, this hit the exact spot to activate my desire to get back up north. Incredible quality of production, good feelings all the way along the movie, especially nearing the end!

The location: a tiny Finnish village. Little more than a roadside cafe and a few wooden houses.

An unexpected visitor arrives from China with nothing but his son and the unrecognisable name of a person he is searching for.

Will he overcome the language barrier? Will he find who he is looking for? Does he have mysterious powers? Is he in some kind of danger?

All these questions and more are teased in this film... but don't worry, it's just a slow, safe film with a conventional outcome that feels like it was funded by the Finnish tourist board.

If, like me, you were hoping for something a little more involving than a Sunday teatime drama I'm afraid you'll be disappointed.

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.

Absolutely beautiful movie and directed in middle of finlands best nature . So warm and authentic feelings. Anna Maija fits perfectly in this movie and Cheng also. Mika , this was this movie went straight to My top5 movies. Thank you for this great 2hours.

I really enjoyed watching this hidden gem on BBC iPlayer, nice ending I didn't want the film to end. Highlights the amazing dishes of Chinese culinary and how done in certain ways can have soul warming and healing properties. Sirrka is the ying to master Cheng's Yang. Well made. I loved the involvement of the eldest in the Finnish community who are used to rubbery potatoes and sausages start to enjoy and embrace Chinese cooking and their culture lol even using chopsticks towards the end of the film. Like I said I really enjoyed this heart warming story of love especially coming from two people of very different cultural backgrounds but in many ways very similar.

The film seems like a long travel commercial targeted towards elderly Finns and Chinese audiences. The story is both predictable and forgettable and re-produces stereotypes about the "perfect migrants" who apparently work happily without pay. The use of "bad English" as the main language that is spoken throughout the film brings with itself a whole new level of cringness and that would otherwise be already quite high with embarrassing dialogue, bad jokes and thin and dry characters. While the music and scenery of rural Lapland and nice, they are not enough to save this film from the overall bad writing and boring story.

Romantical story mixing chinese food and people with Lappland beauriful nature and finnish characters. Especially good are nature scenes on big screen.. Take time, no hurty, fill heart with love and enjoy. Little bit must be understand Finnish mentalitt.

Sometimes wonderful things happen when nations cooperate! This film is absolutely lovely. The story is set in Finland and introduces us to Cheng, who is looking for a Chinese friend with his son. He meets Sirkka, a Finnish girl who runs the local restaurant in a small provincial Finnish town of mostly old and retired people. It's a simple story set in the stunning scenery of Finland. The two leads work very well together and have great chemistry..

Gradually we learn why Cheng came to Finland and he helps Sirkka to run the Restaurant, rapidly forming a bond with the local people who are highly suspicious at first. We watch as he has to deal with his own problems and has to face problems with the Police and immigration.

My wife and I totally enjoyed it and it deserves better than it's relatively low IMDB rating.

This is a gentle, charming and engaging film about loss, redemption and finding love in the most unexpected place, together with the wonderful secenery of the Finnish countryside. Highly recommended.

The screenplay and the scenarios are simply not realistic at all. The so-called Master Cheng get off from the bus with his son in the middle of nowhere, then goes into a diner, asking a gibberish word that none of the old guys who eat there knows what he's talking about. The female owner, who is also the cook, trying very hard to help him asking the same nobody-knows question. The on-going scene drags along for a long time and you just don't know how long this guy's question would be answered, and by whom. Then she offered Cheng and his son to sleep in one of the farm houses. So far, we didn't see how she would charge him for the room. Nor we saw how she charged him for the food.

Then, cluelessly, suddenly there are bunch of Chinese tourists coming off another bus at the same middle-middle-of-nowhere, coming into the diner looking for food, eh...Chinese food. Then this Cheng approaches them and tell them he can cook Chinese food for them. The female diner owner seems so easy going to comply with him without settling how much she would charge them for the food. She goes to the small groceries store, let him buy up all the frozen chicken and other groceries and tells the store owner she'll pay her later. Cheng grabs a lot of bananas to cook Chinese food? So far, we still don't see how much the diner's owner will charge those tourists; and by the way, what attracts these Chinese tourists to this middle of nowhere and how they still insist to eat Chinese food instead of the local food; mesh potato and sausages.

Then this Cheng stays on with his son and helps that woman to serve WONDERFUL CHINESE FOOD to the locals. And of course, then the woman gradually falls in love with him...Jesus, what a load of crap! I am astound and speechless.

My main problem here (apart from the rampant general mediocrity) is that many of the actors seem to be reading scripts from different films. They interact with each other in as much as they are in the same room looking at each other but the dialogue is completely non sequitur. 'Hey Cheng, are you married?' 'I had a wife, she had a bike and died' is just one of my favourite bits of banter. Occasionally master will say something profound and look to his son with a knowing look awaiting an equally profound face or question. The son (apparently in a totally different film) sits motionless and blank faced while the father caresses his head as though a moment was just shared. Utter garbage. You could watch it ironically I guess, if there's no footy on. Up to you 👎💩