Ratatouille: A Culinary Cinematic Journey

Ratatouille, 2007

Directed By: Brad Bird

The movie Ratatouille tells the story of Remy, a rat with an excellent sense of smell and taste. He lives in the sewers with his family but unlike his family, he has a passion for food and what can be made of it. Inspired by the chef, Auguste Gusteau he dreams of being a chef and being able to create his own food creations. One day, fate brings him to Gusteau's restaurant, where he sees Linguini, the recently hired young and clumsy garbage boy, ruining a soup moments before it's supposed to leave the kitchen. Remy takes advantage of the chance to secretly help him fix the soup, impressing Skinner, the head chef. Skinner promotes Linguini to the role of chef after noticing his “potential”.By hiding under Linguini's hat and manipulating his actions like a puppet, Remy and Linguini forge an unexpected alliance. Food critics and customers alike are drawn to the inventive and delectable dishes that Remy and Linguini create thanks to their combined great culinary abilities. Their secret alliance encounters a number of obstacles. Their collaboration is put in jeopardy by the tight restaurant environment, the ambitious and skeptical chef Skinner, and the developing mistrust of Linguini's love interest, Colette. And a critic named Anton Ego who must have the last word. Remy also battles with his identity as a rat in a culinary world that is dominated by humans.

The Plot driver of the film would be Chef Gusteau's cookbook from the first scene of the film. It progresses the story because it provides the idea that “anyone can cook” which is what initially inspires Remy from the beginning. Then a few scenes later, it is what Remy uses as his boat leading to where he found out he was in Paris all along. Later on in the film, Colette stormed out of the restaurant after finding out linguinis secret and rode through Paris on her bike. At a stoplight, sees Chef Gusteaus's cookbook “Anyone can cook” through the window which made her come to a turning point (literally) and turned around and went back to help Linguini. 

The 3 main acts of the film were Remy, and the rat colony being discovered by the old woman which leads Remy to run away and discover that he's been in Paris all along. Remy and Linguinis established an alliance in which Remy agreed to be his secret little chef, and Linguini agrees to be the Showman. Then after all the success of Remy and Linguinis partnership, Anton Ego made an appearance at a press conference to make it clear that he was not done reviewing the restaurant after its newfound success. 

The main changes in the characters were Anton Ego, the renowned food critic known for his harsh and intimidating reviews. Ego is known to have the power to make or break a restaurant's reputation with its critiques. He was skeptical about the success of Chef Gusteaus's restaurant but chose to give a second review after the success of Gusteaus's passing. Upon arrival at the restaurant, he is given a simple dish of ratatouille, which brings back memories for him and makes him feel nostalgic. Moved by the experience, Ego writes a review that not only highly praises the food but also recognizes the skill and love that went into it. 

In the end, his assessment aids in restoring Gusteau's legacy and reviving the restaurant's reputation. The character change came into play when Ego started out as a cold harsh man but ended up being a happy and fulfilled man by the end of the film. The second character change was Collete the rôtisseur chef of Chef Gusteaus restaurant. At the beginning of the film, she was self-proclaimed as the “toughest cook in the kitchen” and treated Linguini as such. As the film progresses she finds herself falling for Linguini and his clumsiness.