Tampopo
Tampopo | |
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Directed by | Juzo Itami |
Screenplay by | Juzo Itami |
Produced by |
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Starring |
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Cinematography | Masaki Tamura[1] |
Edited by | Akira Suzuki[1] |
Music by | Kunihiko Murai[1] |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Toho |
Release date |
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Running time | 115 minutes[1] |
Country | Japan |
Language | Japanese |
Tampopo (タンポポ, Tanpopo, literally "dandelion") is a 1985 Japanese
Plot
A pair of truck drivers, the experienced Gorō and a younger colleague named Gun, stop at a decrepit roadside ramen noodle shop. Outside, Gorō rescues a boy who is being beaten by three schoolmates. The boy, Tabo, is the son of Tampopo, the widowed owner of the struggling ramen shop, Lai Lai. A customer called Pisken harasses Tampopo, demanding that she sell the shop. Gorō suggests Pisken be quiet so he can enjoy his meal, then provokes a physical confrontation. Gorō puts up a good fight but, outnumbered by Pisken and his men, he is knocked out and awakens the next morning in Tampopo's home.
The next morning, she kindly cooks breakfast for Gorō and Gun in her home kitchen and sends Tabo off to school. While eating breakfast, Tampopo asks for their opinion of her ramen, Gorō and Gun tell her they are "sincere, but lack character." After Gorō gives her some advice, she asks him to become her teacher. They decide to turn her establishment into a paragon of the "art of noodle soup making". She and Gorō visit her competitors and he points out their strengths and weaknesses. She still is struggling to fix the broth, so Gorō visits a homeless encampment to enlist the "old master" and his superlative expertise. When they rescue a wealthy elderly man from choking on his food, the man lends her the services of his chauffeur Shohei, who has a masterly way with noodles. Through clever trickery, they pry ramen secrets from their competitors. Gun and his friends give Tampopo a makeover as a modern proprietress. During the transition, the group agrees to change the restaurant's name from "Lai Lai" to "Tampopo".
Pisken feels bad for being too drunk to tell his men to stay out of the fight, so he offers Gorō another chance one-on-one. After the rematch ends in a draw, Pisken reveals he is a contractor and Tampopo's childhood friend, and offers to renovate the shop's interior. Tampopo's latest effort still comes up short, so Pisken teaches her his own secret recipe. When the five men consume her latest creation down to the last drop, Tampopo knows she has won. Tabo also triumphs, beating all three of his tormentors and subsequently befriending them. As customers fill her newly redecorated shop, the men file out one by one.
Throughout the film, other minor scenes of other characters are featured. A group of business executives visit a
Cast
- Tsutomu Yamazaki as Gorō
- Nobuko Miyamoto as Tampopo
- Kōji Yakushoas Man in White Suit
- Ken Watanabe as Gun
- Rikiya Yasuoka as Pisuken
- Kinzō Sakura as Shōhei
- Yoshi Katō as Noodle-making master
- Hideji Ōtaki as Rich Old Man
- Fukumi Kuroda as Man in White Suit's mistress
- Setsuko Shinoi as Old Man's mistress
- Yoriko Dōguchi as Pearl diver (Oyster girl)
- Masahiko Tsugawa as Supermarket manager
- Yoshihiro Katō as Man in White Suit's henchman
- Mariko Okada as Spaghetti sensei
- Ryūtarō Ōtomo as Ramen master
- Toshiya Fujita as Man with Toothache (un-credited)
Production
Throughout, the film references stereotypical American movie themes, characters, music, and camera shots.[citation needed]
Release
Tampopo was released in Japan on November 23, 1985, distributed by Toho.[1] New Yorker Films released the film in the United States in 1987.[1]
The
Reception
Critical response
Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars, commenting that "Like the French comedies of Jacques Tati, it's a bemused meditation on human nature in which one humorous situation flows into another offhandedly, as if life were a series of smiles."[3]
Hal Hinson of The Washington Post wrote, "The movie, which Itami calls a 'noodle Western,' is a rambunctious mixture of the bawdy and the sublime...Tampopo is perhaps the funniest movie about the connection between food and sex ever made."[4]
Vincent Canby provided a somewhat dissenting, though still positive, opinion in his New York Times review, stating, "Though it's not consistently funny... Tampopo is one of the more engaging films to be shown in this year's [New Directors/New Films] series... Mr. Itami often strains after comic effects that remain elusive. The most appealing thing about Tampopo is that he never stops trying."[6]
Tampopo has received unanimous praise from critics, with a 100% approval rating and average score of 8.53/10 from Rotten Tomatoes, based on 52 reviews. The site's critical consensus states, "Thanks to director Juzo Itami's offbeat humor and sharp satirical edge, Tampopo is a funny, sexy, affectionate celebration of food and its broad influence on Japanese culture."[7]
Accolades
Tampopo received two Japanese Academy Awards: for Best Editing and for Best Sound. In the United States, it was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film and a National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay and Best Director.[8]
Legacy
The 2008 American/Japanese movie The Ramen Girl, in which a girl played by Brittany Murphy learns how to cook ramen, contains many references to Tampopo, including a cameo by Tsutomu Yamazaki.
A number of ramen restaurants around the world have been named Tampopo.[9]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Galbraith IV 2008, p. 346.
- ^ "Tampopo's Delicious Return to Theaters". The Criterion Collection. Retrieved 2016-12-11.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (1987-09-11). "Tampopo Review". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
- ^ Hinson, Hal (June 17, 1987). "'Tampopo' (NR)". The Washington Post.
- ^ Johnston, Andrew (January 22, 1998). "Death and taxes". Time Out New York.
- ^ Canby, Vincent (March 26, 1987). "New Directors/New Films; 'Tampopo,' A Comedy from Japan". The New York Times.
- ^ Tampopo at Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ Tampopo - IMDb, retrieved 2022-09-05
- ^ Waitrose Food Illustrated 2001 - Page 32 "Tampopo is one of a rapidly growing number of noodle bars offering a broad range of Asian dishes, served quickly, in simple surroundings, at reasonable prices. The Manchester branch of Tampopo (there's another in Leeds) is an airy ..."
Bibliography
- Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. ISBN 978-1461673743.
Further reading
- Ashkenazi, Michael. "Food, Play, Business, and the Image of Japan in Itami Juzo's Tampopo". In Anne Bower, ed., Reel Food: Essays on Food and Film (New York: Routledge, 2004).
External links
- Tampopo at IMDb
- Tampopo at AllMovie
- Tampopo at Rotten Tomatoes
- Tampopo (in Japanese) at the Japanese Movie Database
- Tampopo: Ramen for the People an essay by Willie Blackmore at the Criterion Collection