Tampopo

Tampopo

Huh?

I think this could be the easiest review I've ever written. I can sum up this movie in one sentence.

I don't know what the hell I just watched, but it is pretty awesome.

The concept of the film may sound familiar. Stoic and tough loner rides into town and helps a local widow save her business and fend off the bad guys. Only in Tampopo, the loner rides in not on a horse, but in an 18-wheeler truck, and the widow he helps is running a down-in-the-dumps noodle shop. The bad guys include other noodle cooks and uh, interior decorators. So really what we're getting is the world's first Noodle Western/absurdist gangster comedy/noodle cooking training video.

But the movie is not content with just telling its story. It also decides to interject the tale with about a dozen other unconnected stories - some featuring a Toshiro Mifune-esque white suited gangster, other featuring random characters we've never seen before and will never see again. Do they have anything to do with the movie? Maybe thematically. Maybe not. It's possible the director Juzo Itami just wanted to work in a lot of food gags, and that's the end of it. Either way, it adds to the bizarre nature of Tampopo, and without them the movie really wouldn't work. It needs the gangster yelling in the movie theater about potato chips. It needs the "let's learn how to not slurp our soup" lesson for young polite society ladies (though it probably does NOT need the oyster fishing scene, but I won't go into that). The movie truly is better for these bizarre riffs.

Even better than the comedy is the food! This movie is a foodie's dream. It discusses, examines, theorizes, and even theologizes on everything concerning noodle soup. Sure, this is for comedic effect, but it also takes the quest for the perfect noodle completely seriously at the same time. The food is shot so lovingly and so carefully that your stomach will start growling about halfway in. It is no mistake that Anthony Bourdain, John Farr, ChowHound, and Cinematical all list Tampopo as one of the top five food movies ever. And the esteemed Village Voice says that Tampopo is actually the # 1 food movie ever.

I suppose some people might not like its insane humor. The movie really makes very little sense - I promise you that. I also promise that when the movie ends, you're going to want to eat. A lot.

MVP: Food. Wow, the food looks so good in this movie. From the noodle soup with thin, tender slices of pork to the grilled beef and shallots to the glistening Peking Duck to the rice omelet....FOOD is the MVP!


TRIVIA: Slurping noodles is considered polite in Japan. It is a way to show your appreciation for a good meal to the cook. And knowing this makes the aforementioned slurping scene even more hilarious.


BEST LINE: "No! Keep eating! This is the last meal your mother ever cooked! We're going to eat all of it!"