TAMPOPO
A film review by Jeff Meyer
Copyright 1987 Jeff Meyer
Seen at the Seattle Film Festival: TAMPOPO (Japan, 1986) Director/Writer: Juzo Itami Cast: Ken Watanabo, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamato, Koji Yakusho. Subtitled.
I have to give credit to the Japanese filmmakers over the last two years; they are producing some of the funniest films to grace the Film Festival. Latest in the rostrum (and heavily recommended via word of mouth from NPR, Pauline Kael) is TAMPOPO, a story of a widowed noodle cook, a truck driver who seems to be John Wayne on the side, a vagrant food connoisseur, a churlish contractor with a heart of gold, and a gangster who seems to be combining his passion for food and his passion for his sexy moll. And gourmets. Gad, EVERYONE in this film is a gourmand, from top executive assistants down to bowery bums. Anyone and everyone will suddenly stop whatever they're doing and begin to talk in terms straight out of your local "Best Places" restaurant guide, how the broth lacks sincerity but the noodles have guts.
Actually, this film has a rather interesting construction, not seen since some of the later Monty Python movies. It has a main plot, that of Tampopo, a widow who runs a not-very-good noodle shop. Two truckers, one being the archetype of most Western heroes of the 50s, help her give the bum's rush to a bunch of toughs, and she is inspired to rise above her cooking inadequacies, and become "the best noodle cook in Japan." The plot follows her through her training by her trucker friend, her investigations into the secrets behind really good noodles, and her various trials to get secret ingredients to bring her to noodle nirvana. Meanwhile, the film will suddenly wander from the main plot to various skits occurring nearby, always involving food and usually involving the gangster with the erotic dinner ideas. I have heard a lot of comparisons between some of these scenes and the famous sequences in TOM JONES; while I don't think they're as entertaining as the sequences in JONES, they're funny--erotic humor seems to pass through the language barrier with flying colors. Some of the other sketches are much funnier, including a board-room dinner at a fancy French restaurant. The sketches don't interrupt the main plot of Tampopo (the name of the aspiring noodle chef) for too long, and some (but certainly not all) are worth the side trip.
But the most interesting storyline is that of Tampopo, and Juzo Itami has the wisdom to keep the center of the movie firmly tied to her apron-strings. A B- movie ($4.50 value), with heavy recommendations to get to the theater on time--this has the funniest opening sequence of any film I've seen this year, as the gangster decides to have a meal in another movie theater.
Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
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