(tr: Now we're cooking!)
I watched Tampopo tonight. Not real heavy on plot, or at least the simple plot isn't the main attraction. There are some great setups, though. Like, the hero fights a bully, so the bully reforms and agrees to do interior decorating for the heroine. You don't see that in every movie.
Also a reminder on how in Japan ramen is treated as a real food. I know there are Asian restaurants here that do the same thing, but my experience of ramen is as 40-plastic-wrapped noodles that tasted good enough going down but which I often regretted around 2AM.
There is a turtle snuff scene in the movie. If you have a pet turtle, proceed with caution on both your behalf.
2 comments:
I'm really glad you got to see this one. It lightly mirrors an old fashioned Western - the hero rides into town in his truck, saves a kid from bullies who turns out to be the son of the heroine, Tampopo, who really needs help as a noodle maker.
Of course while their quest is going on we meet the charming hoboes who cook (a little Chaplin scene there with the omelette). The white suited yakuza and his moll engage in food erotica. Then there was the etiquette woman teaching a class of girls how to eat spagetti while a guy across the way slurped noodles. I still can't forget the old master teaching his disciple how to approach a bowl of ramen. But overall it was the development of Tampopo throughout the film as she gained skill and confidence. Even her son was friends with the bullies at the end.
I know what you mean about ramen as we've discovered it in the West. It's always far too salty for one thing. I never really knew about noodles as a main food until I read some of Colin Cotterill's 'Dr. Siri Paiboun' stories when the good doctor marries the country's best noodle cook.
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Okay, this is sixth try. Text edit saves help a lot.
Last try for now.
Yes, the Western structure is very definitely there. The emphasis may be a little different, but it does work on that level.
The omelette scene is quite charming. (BTW, either Chrome or Windows is flagging my spelling of "omelette", even though it's quite correct.) I had to laugh at the noodle etiquette scene. That poor lady. Trying to teach these girls how to eat demurely, and this European tourist has to make a liar out of her. Ah well.
The thing about ramen is that it seems to be pretty cheap and easy for them to make and package something that fits the definition, and that tastes pretty good in the moment. But whatever preservatives they use don't agree with many of us. So I guess it pays to be selective. I'm happy for Dr. Paiboun on a number of levels.
I shuffled around in the backroom space on Blogger and freed up your comment. So far none of your other comments seem to have gotten stuck, knock on wood. I can't exactly explain the whole thing.
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