C(r)ook (2004)

Oskar was once a major gangster, but is now in prison. He has taken a prison guard hostage in order to escape. On his way to Valentin, who is waiting in the getaway car, the prison psychologist Maria stops him and asks him to put down his gun and abandon his escape attempt so that, once he has served the rest of his sentence, the two of them can be together. He does as she asks, and the guards catch him during the escape attempt. When he is released after serving his sentence, he gets together with his prison psychologist, who is convinced that everything can be settled through conversation rather than violence. For that reason, she disapproves of Oskar’s lifestyle and his protection-racket business. Oskar is influenced by her, becomes calmer, and devotes more time to his beloved hobby of cooking. He turns his back on violence and lets his shady businesses run more or less passively. But when Konstantin, the godfather of Vienna, learns that Oskar wants to publish a book called “Secrets – My Secrets…” (misspelled “Secréts” in the film), he grows suspicious and thinks it poses a threat to Vienna’s mafia scene, so he orders his foster son Valentin to keep Oskar under surveillance. From this point on, the plot gathers pace and many misunderstandings arise. Toward the end, it turns out that the book is really just a harmless gourmet cookbook. At the end of the film, there is first a classic Mexican standoff, strongly reminiscent of Tony Scott’s True Romance, during which Maria is killed. Then a time jump effectively rewinds the story: we see Oskar in the same shot as at the beginning of the film. This time, he does not let his hostage go, but continues on his way to Valentin, who is waiting in the getaway car, thereby choosing against his relationship with Maria.