VOTE:
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forgeit — 19 years ago(November 25, 2006 10:46 AM)
I lived in Japan between 1984 to 1987 in Saga kyushu, a place that at the time was so countrified it was amazing..I was there to study martial arts and the appraisal of Japanese Swords. Very few people had been in contact with a westerner and back then if you didnt learn to read kanji you didnt eat as the restaurants had no anglicised menus and there were no anglicised signs at the train station or on the roads. Tampopo is one of my favourite films as it shows Japanese culture and society how it really was back then. The erotic scene is absolutely essential, as we all know food and sex go together. To cut it out would lessen the film greatly. Another Itami Juzo film o-soshiki shows the Japanese attitude to death and is along the same lines. Just a shame Itami couldnt hold it together as he commited suicide.
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BigBabou — 19 years ago(November 29, 2006 06:25 AM)
I loved it. I thought it was very funny, and I was laughing all the time.
I'm not really good at describing movies, but as I see it, Tampopo is a satire on the Japanese obsession with food. It shows food in all its functions; cooking, eating, work, sex, violence, death, etc. I think it is all so funny because it is exagerated, but based on reality. (As I once told a friend, after visiting Japan for the first time: 'Japanese always seem busy either eating, or earning money to buy food').
The only problem might be that people that have not witnessed this obsession first hand (by visiting Japan), might not fully appreciate this movie. (Don't take it too serious!)
The scene of the mother dying after cooking for her family cracked me up, and so did the scene of the 'ramen-master' explaining the 'right' way to eat it (I've been doing it wrong all the time ;)).
By the way, did they already have the Balloon festival in Saga in the 80s? -
Selysia — 19 years ago(March 15, 2007 04:14 AM)
Love it love it love it!!!
quote: "The only way you could hate it was if you watched it on an empty stomach."
That's right. It always makes me want to eat either Japanese noodle soup or a rice omelette (which by the way is my favourite part of the movie, the hobo preparing the rice omelette for the little boy)!
I can do anything I want to Baby, I ain't lost -
i_love_junk_mail — 18 years ago(July 02, 2007 12:27 AM)
I loved Tampopo, and damn I want some noodles now! Chashu-men!
For anyone interested in further Japanese cinema of an even higher quality, check out some of Yasujiro Ozu's films like 'Late Spring' or 'Tokyo Story'. I've seen five of his films now and they all touch on heartstrings of Japanese family life circa WWII that is beautfully special and unique. -
pwillener — 18 years ago(November 12, 2007 10:38 PM)
The best film ever made! I watch it about 3 or 4 times a year.
Living in Japan I find "Tampopo scenes" every day. I always go on "Ah - that reminds me of Tampopo. Remember the old impostor eating Peking Duck?" "Ah - same like the group of salary men going to the French restaurant." "Dam, dam, dam (he, he,he!) - the ramen shop owner's reply to Tampopo's request for the soup recipe." -
ryanthomasmcgill — 18 years ago(December 19, 2007 08:22 PM)
entertaining, but i just didn't get it. i love Japaneses movies and culture but this one left me asking why. why did i sit through this movie? like i said, a good movie, but the theme was missed on me. love of food i get it, but? maybe ill need to go to japan to appreciate this one.
but i'm glad their are fans because it does have it's own charm.
cheers -
Spacetree — 17 years ago(October 06, 2008 08:29 PM)
I thought it was pretty great. I saw it for my East Asian Cinema class, and it's easily the most entertaining movie I've seen in the class (I liked Kagemusha and Rashomon, but levity and comedy are not their forte).
Hey, it's back! Check the profile for the message boards I control. -
my_spam_trap — 15 years ago(December 18, 2010 06:28 PM)
I loved this movie! I first saw it around 1990 and I keep coming back to it.
I have never been to Japan, and so I don't believe that an intimate knowledge of Japanese culture is needed to appreciate the film (though it probably helped).
As for the sexual stereotyping in the film, I agree, it's there. HOWEVER much of it is clearly satirical. If you have any question about whether director Juzo Itami sees the world the way that the characters are portrayed in
Tamopo
, I suggest that you also see
A Taxing Woman
.
I'm just a guy who sees some movies sometimes, whatever! -
billt61a — 12 years ago(October 30, 2013 02:23 PM)
It's been roughly half a decade since I've watched it even though I have the DVD. I'll have to watch it again. It's a brilliant movie, not much on plot, but full of highly entertaining vignettes, all revolving around food. The soundtrack is superior as well, lots of great classical music.
There are many great scenes, the young man ordering food in the European restaurant, the Western Noodle eating lessons, the ongoing Ramen Chef Training, the European makeover, I honestly could go on and on.
The movie is uniquely Japanese, yet at the same time has many elements of American westerns. One of those movies that shows how human beings, human cultures, have a lot more in common than prejudice would have us believe.
