☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
Tampopo (1985) – J. Itami
Beloved Japanese
comedy from director Juzo Itami that is equal parts a series of sketches
linking food to sex, death, and all varieties of human experience AND an
engaging narrative detailing how a pair of truck drivers (and the assorted “experts”
they enlist) help a single mum to elevate her ramen noodles and ramen shop to
excellence. Itami makes good use of classic film technique to move between
scenes (closing iris wipes!) but also lets the camera move out of the narrative
by following a passerby into a sketch. I was surprised to see Koji Yakusho (subsequently
a big star, including in Wim Wenders’ recent Perfect Days, 2023) as a gangster
intent on the sensuality of food (whose scenes also reminded me why I haven’t
shown this film to the kids). Ken Watanabe (Inception, 2010) is also here as
one of the truck drivers. But the film
really belongs to Tsutomu Yamazaki as GorĂ´, the truck driver who initiates the
plan by citing in detail how noodles could be improved and Nobuko Miyamoto (the
director’s wife and muse) as Tampopo, the ramen shop owner. They bring
sincerity, charisma, and conviction (and have the most fleshed out characters).
Overall, this is a joy to watch and while not laugh-out-loud funny, it is
knowing and observant and, most of all, playful and full of heart.
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