Tampopo (1985) [Film Review]

Tampopo; or, Food, Ramen Girl, and Franz Liszt

     Wait. Wait, please... Please... Please be my teacher. I'll be a good student! Meeting you makes me want to be a real noodle cook!

This week’s review will be about Juzo Itami’s greatest classic and, probably, one of the best films about food of all time. Tampopo is a wonderful tale about passion, self-confidence, love, death, social etiquette and their inextricable connection with the essential basics of our survival: food.

Release Info 

Directed by: Juzo Itami Starring: Nobuko Miyamoto, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Ken Watanabe, Hideji Otaki 

Language: Japanese Original Title: タンポポ Runtime: 115 min

 

Synopsis

When discussing Tampopo’s narrative, we have to bear in mind that it involves several storylines. The main one focuses on a pair of truck drivers, Goro (Tsutomu Yamazaki) and his co-worker Gun (young Ken Watanabe!), who stop to eat at a ramen noodle shop. Unfortunately, unpleasant customers harass the owner of the place, Tampopo (Nobuki Miyamoto) and Goro stands in her defence. The next day, grateful Tampopo cooks breakfast for Goro, but he politely tells her that her ramen is not particularly good. After giving her several tips, Goro prepares to leave, but Tampopo begs him to become her teacher. The truck driver eventually agrees and resolves to turn her noodle shop into the greatest ramen place. That’s how the quest of our heroes in search for perfect ramen begins.

Food, Food, and More Food

First of all, I have to point out that you should not watch this movie on an empty stomach. Seriously, there should be a disclaimer like that at the very beginning, because the film is filled with various dishes from Japanese cuisine, not just ramen. Well, I would even dare to say that food is not only the main theme, but the main hero of Tampopo. We follow Goro and Tampopo as they try to discover the essence of ramen by, for instance, observing other chefs at work, learning the right balance of ingredients, proper serving of the incoming customers, and relentlessly training in the kitchen almost in Rocky style.

However, not only Goro lends Tampopo a hand. Goro’s “old master” (Yoshi Kato) also helps as well as a certain wealthy businessman (Hideji Otaki), whom Tampopo saved from choking, and his chauffeur Shohei (Kinzo Sakura), and Tampopo’s old customer Pisken (Rikiya Yasuoka). It is the unity of these strangers that ultimately leads to the formation of “Tampopo Noodles” restaurant and the creation of the finest ramen ever made.

Nevertheless, Tampopo is not only about the main heroine and her ramen. In fact, the movie begins in a very strange, metanarrative-like way with a macho gangster and his girlfriend sitting in a cinema and watching a movie about truck drivers (Goro and Gun) who are reading a book about ramen... Tampopo’s story is cross-cut with a few short skits which are in no way connected with the main plot, but... all involve food in one way or the other. Thus, for example, we get to see such hilarious situations as a corporate subordinate shaming his superiors when ordering a sophisticated dish, a hopeless etiquette lesson (with the legendary Mariko Okada) on how to eat spaghetti, a man sharing an ice cream with a kid, a housewife rising from deathbed to cook the final meal for her family, and a store manager chasing a woman who manically squeezes food...

Yet perhaps, the weirdest short story of all is the one about a gangster and his girlfriend who are... physically celebrating each other with quite ingenious usage of food. Pleasure of consumption is equalled here with pleasure of sex, but at this point the film almost crosses the line between being an innocent comedy and a porn flick. Nevertheless, the egg scene should be included somewhere on the list of 100 best cinematic kisses.

In consequence, Itami constantly winks at the viewers by placing food at the core of these bizarre situations. The way I understand these scenes is that food seems not only as a necessity to survive, but as a way to live through life. Dishes become commodities, sources of pleasure, irreversibly combined with our senses, emotions, and important memories. In other words, food is the source of happiness. Quite rightly so, this is also the case with Tampopo. Yet, she achieves happiness not from eating ramen, but by making it for other people who enjoy it. Itami points to this materialistic way of life which governs our existence and underlines that we also should appreciate the things which we usually take for granted. Our family, job, and nourishment.

In terms of performances, Tsutomu Yamazaki and Nobuko Miyamoto were flawless once again, as in The Funeral (1984) and A Taxing Woman (1987). I even think that Miyamoto gave the most energetic performance in her career as Tampopo. On the other hand, Yamazaki was so cool as a tough truck driver that, for some reason, he reminded me of Gregory Peck! But maybe it was just because of the hat...

Ken Watanabe has only a supporting role and a very limited screen time, but still, it is great to see him at the very beginning of his career. Masahiko Tsugawa deserves an honourable mention as a supermarket manager. Even though he has no dialogue, it is hilarious to see him pursuing a crazy old woman. In addition, the music score is epic and I don’t mean the incidental music, but the usage of Franz Liszt’s epic finale from “Les Preludes”, especially in the scene when Tampopo finally makes the perfect ramen. Awesome!

Recommendations

I recommend this film to anyone who likes a good comedy, Japanese cuisine, and existential matters explored in a quirky way. Tampopo delivers on all fronts, becoming a little masterpiece which, for some unknown reason, happens to be frequently omitted on “all-time best” lists. All things considered, Tampopo is a great ramen western.

Overall score: 9/10