Stanley Tucci’s directorial career has not been as full as his acting one. However, his first feature, Big Night, was a very respectable start. It is full of boisterous moments, family crises, love sought and heartbreak. And then it ends like this.
There is so much going on in this five-minute scene that it is difficult to know where to start. Every time I see the film, I am struck by something new. From the outset, I loved the simplicity of the creation of this simple meal — a heated pan, olive oil, three eggs beaten, a pinch of salt, lightly fried (with a little light mixing) and turned once. then served onto two plates (with some held back for a third serving). I think it is rare for a film to show a meal being created from scratch and then eaten. This scene is remarkable over and above that for showing the creative process in one shot — there is no cut from table to cooker, or from face to face. The omelette is brought into being from the rawest ingredients before our eyes, without artifice.
After the cooking, the simplicity and efficacy of the kitchen itself is worth noting. The flow of Tucci’s movements around the room — taking the eggs as he comes through the door, walking to the counter, reaching for a pan, lighting the gas, pouring the oil, beating the eggs, dropping them into the pan, moving round to the shelves for plates and forks, taking them to the table, back to the cooker, flipping the omelette, plating it, breaking the bread and finally sitting to eat — is simultaneously economical and balletic. There is nothing superflous: it is a working kitchen that works with a minimum of fuss.
On screen, the image immediately before this scene is dawn breaking over the Atlantic. The whole final scene encapsulates the calm of morning after a long stressful (and disappointing) night. The revellers have departed, and we are left with three tired people. Two of them (the brothers Primo (Tony Shalhoub) and Secundo (Stanley Tucci) whose restaurant it is) have fallen out during the evening. This simple repast, cooked by the brother who acts as maître d’ rather than the chef, allows the film to end with a reconciliation. As the camera pans round to centre on the two brothers, the waiter Cristiano (played by Marc Anthony) discreetly leaves the stage. I say “stage” because this final mise-en-scène owes much to the theatre.
So there are well-crafted elements to this scene, and the whole construction is equally well put together. It works on its own (a kind of short story within the larger film) and as a fitting conclusion to the whole piece.
Filed under: Film
