Sergio Herman, Fucking Perfect

Rebecca Varidel
10th Jun 2015

Whenever there is an ending is there a new beginning? At 43, Sergio Herman had been working as a chef for twenty five years and was at the height of his career. Using the best of the unique ingredients of the native lands and waters of his region as his inspiration, he searched worldwide for new seasonings and techniques which he found, amongst other places, in Japanese and Italian cuisines. He's a perfectionist. That's how his forty seat restaurant Oud Sluis in The Netherlands became one of only two restaurants to ever receive a perfect 20 out of 20 from the Gault Millau guide (for 2010 and 2011), received three Michelin stars, and was listed in the S. Pelligrino World's 50 Best Restaurants.

Fucking Perfect is the feature-length documentary of a year of his life, and the last year of Oud Sluis after he announced that it would close so he could spend more time with his family and more time on other projects. Outside of, because of, inspite of, the truly wonderful film craft, Fucking Perfect is a must watch for everyone that is interested in food, particularly the perfection of high end dining.

During the film, there are moments of artistry, of frustration and of pure joy, and a few giggles- which start right from the opening scene as Chef Sergio Herman is being directed how to pose for a celebrity photo shoot. As the camera pans back we see he is perched on two stools, one foot planted on each.

Naturally, it isn't long before we head into the kitchen, where much of the film is situated. For the early part of the film, a lot of the time we spend with Herman is amongst the eighteen Oud Sluis chefs during service. During the film the heat of the pans, the calling of orders, the manicured pictorial plates of tweezered perfection are interspersed with snippets of life outside the kitchen, behind the wheel of the car, with planning, with foraging for sea plants. And we meet his patient and devoted wife, his four children, his brother, his parents.

Outside of the life and personality of the central figure, director Willemiek Kluijfhout brings together a wonderful film, that both aches and embraces. Much of the beauty of the film is due to the sensational cinematography created by the talented Remko Schnorr; it is spectacular and varied, from spontaneous shooting in the small and frantic commercial kitchen during service, to wistful seaside panoramas, to observations in the family home, close-ups, really close up close-ups, not just of the food, but of Sergio Herman himself, as we zoom in on his hand while driving, and closer on his arm while he is being inked, and even closer still in held shots on one eye, one ear. In one long take, after the closing of Ouid Slois, the emotional story is portrayed as we see Herman carry his youngest on his hip through unlit corridors into the light of the kitchen to work on new dishes.

Greater than a documentary, the careful crafted editing flow of Fucking Perfect raises it into a storyline, creates shade from the heat of the kitchen, as we get a feel for the 18, 19, 20 hour working days of Sergio Herman and his teams. Where is his true home? We share with him the balance and imbalance in his life. His priorities. The price of perfection.

The use and choice of music is sparing, complimentary even enhancing, and limited in the most part to outside the energetic bustle, to scenes of family life or panoramas of an overcast coastline. The music from Trentemøller is in itself, soulful, searching, and hauntingly beautiful.

Sergio Herman admits the kitchen is the only place that makes him feel alive. And so, after the closing of the restaurant where he learnt to cook under his father, the restaurant that he built to three Michelin stars, he hopes for time with his family and to work less, but on other projects. Yet it's not long before another new project emerges, a larger newer city restaurant is about to open.

Is this the end? Beyond the film, the Sergio Herman website has these words.

LOOKING EVERYWHERE, AT ANYTIME AS A STARTING POINT TO CREATE AND MAKE IT VISIBLE AGAIN.