Tampopo (1985) : The celebration of food in a vignette of comedy and love.
Tampopo is a film that is carried out by a series of events. Its soul is the satire and comical nature through its mix of the hollywood western. The appeal for the film came by the attributes it had with the japanese comedy. It felt very cultured in that manner. Not to ascertain that this could not be watched by anyone but japanese it is just that being an avid fan of anime and japanese films this is a comedy that is fantastical and comical in its nature which distinguishes its uniqueness
Directed by Juzo Itami, Goro a truck driver with his sidekick Gun stumble upon a weary and struggling noodle-shop run by a woman named tampopo and her son. This initial scene is similar in the cloak of a western where we see a bunch of thugs eating and drinking. When Goro and Gun enter there is an immediate silence. They sit down and order a couple of ramen. They observe the ladies method. They eat and become dissatisfied with it. Later a fight between the thug Pisuken occurs (similiar to a western fight off just with no guns). The next day Tampopo thanks Goro and requests him to teach her on how to make great noodles and run the shop into success.
What we get is the core storyline but what the director does is he also creates a series of vignettes of scenes that intertwine with the core story and they are scenes of comedy, satire and love of food.
For example, at the start of the film we see a man with training of noodles of 40 years and how he explains the method to which to “eat” the noodles. It is a scene that has this orgasmic effect and romantices the concept of the ramen. Like how he explains that before eating “Appreciate its gestalt. Savor the aroma.Concentrate on the three pork slices they play a key role but stay modestly hidden and so on”. Its a wonderful scene that represents the beauty of food.
Another examples, like how a gangster and lover play a thread throughout the film that has no connection to the central plot but showcases the sex, violence and comedy with food at its focal point or the beautfiul satirical scenes of etiquettes and manner during eating food, here it feels there is no connection to the core plot but anyways it is hilarious. The scene that I especially liked had an attribute that I had described as cultured is when a snoozy little corporate beginner has more cuisine and etiqutte knowledge than his higher ups. The moment of embarassement and there comical red faces made me smile and laugh with same nature as if I would have watched an top comical anime.
We also see a variety of comical characters like the noodle master that stays with his homeless group or the old and rich business man that has a soft spot for noodles. The feeling of this film can give you a charm. The trials and tribulation of the food can be taken as an allegory to the artist and how much care is taken to do make something. These scenes brings out that respect towards food but none of its hyper inflated.
Juzo Itami plays with the romanticisation of food. He mixes the satirical nature of genres into many scenes like the western. “It is a meditation on human nature” as Roger Ebert attributed. I feel the film is in of the same manner. These series of events flows perfectly. A series of comedies that philosophies food and its business. The broader play and influence of japanese culture seeps in and it is a celebration of food that I have not seen in any film.