The Cakemaker is a 2017 Israeli-German film, directed by Ofir Raul Graizer. The Cakemaker incorporates themes of loss, love, religion, and food. The plot follows a German baker from Berlin, Thomas, who has an affair and falls in love with Oren, a man who is married and has family in Jerusalem. After Oren’s death, Thomas travels to Israel to find Oren’s family and he soon finds himself working and baking with Anat, the widow of Oren. Anat owns a kosher café in the city.
There are strong ties in this film between traditional German desserts/ pastries and traditional kosher foods. Both cultural sides in the film (Jewish and German), approach each other’s foods with unfamiliarity and respect.
Examples are when Thomas bakes cookies (containing butter) in the café oven (an oven that cooks meat) but is unaware of kosher cooking regulations. The other example is when Thomas introduces Anat and Itai to Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte. Both Thomas and Anat work together to incorporate German baked goods into Kashrut and they both enjoy each other’s foods. Their cultures and foods coexist.
Anat helps to bake German desserts and Thomas joins Anat’s family for Shabbat meals. The director creates these ties through both the relationships between the characters and the calculated shots in the film.
There are numerous up-close shots of hands kneading dough. These shots emphasize the physicality and sensuality of baking, and here, I think this can also relate to the sensuality Thomas experienced in his relationship with Oren. There are also silent shots of the characters eating each other’s foods- these shots are also quite sensual in that they show their facial expressions in reaction to the new tastes.
Anat’s brother, Motti, is concerned about her, her son, and the upkeep of their religious practices. Motti, for the most part, is against selling Thomas’ baked goods because he is German. Both characters, Anat and Thomas, are caught up with their feelings/ stressors stemming from their individual food preparations.
Overall, The Cakemaker successfully showcases the differences of tradition/ practice in terms of food preparation and consumption, but by having these characters’ love and family lives intertwine, different foods integrate into each of the characters’ lives.