For Japan...

This is my entry in CinemaFanatic/JapanCinema's blogathon to benefit victims of the earthquake/tsunami disaster in Japan...I hope those of you visiting my reel life will donate generously by clicking here...

Woman in the Dunes

 I wish I were more knowledgeable about the cinema of Japan, but I am not. That's not to say that I am completely ignorant of Japanese films ...I have seen my share of Kurosawa, most recently, Red Beard (1965) and - amazingly - the first Japanese film I can ever recall seeing is Woman in the Dunes (1964). I was fortunate to have been young during an era when an art house/revival house culture thrived - and it was in a theater dedicated to such cinema that I saw Hiroshi Teshigahara's great film. On the surface it is about an entomologist who becomes trapped in a sand pit with a woman whose life is devoted to the daily shoveling of sand. But more than that it's a consuming existential meditation, beautifully photographed, filled with striking imagery and accompanied by a jarring, expressive soundtrack. I couldn't get it out of my mind then - and I really never have since.

The Japanese film I viewed most recently is a completely different kind of film...

Not long ago I posted a blog about food and film - films in which food "played a lead or supporting role." At the end of it I invited others to comment on their favorites of this "genre."  Among the films mentioned was one I hadn't seen, Juzo Itami’s comedy, Tampopo (1985). I was curious and eventually tracked it down…



Nobuko Miyamoto in Tampopo

 Goro (Tsutomu Yamazaki) is a truck driver on a long haul with his younger partner, Gun (Ken Watanabe). One night they stop at a roadside noodle shop run by a widow, Tampopo (Nobuko Miyamoto), struggling to keep her restaurant going while raising a young son. When she asks Goro how he likes her ramen he tells the truth: not very good! He then embarks on a mission to help Tampopo master the art of the noodle bowl…

A variety of colorful folk join in and weigh in on concocting the correct recipe and developing the proper method of preparing perfect ramen...broth, noodles, style, attitude...

Tampopo...sharing food

But Tampopo is not a start-to-finish narrative. Several vignettes are woven in - all are related to food but not all directly related to the ramen odyssey. Highlights among these side stories include the amusing predicament of a group of corporate types grappling with the menu in a French restaurant, several friends who get together with the intention of eating spaghetti in the western style and…most famous of all…a gangster and his girl sharing a raw but ultimately sensuous egg.

The mastery of ramen is achieved and the film ends on a high note. Goro, a wandering cowboy of sorts, seems almost to ride into the sunset once he accomplishes his purpose. A final scene puts an exclamation point on the link between food and connection/intimacy/love.