Tampopo (1985) Film Discussion

The next film we'll discuss is the 1985 Japanese comedy "Ramen Western" Tampopo, written and directed by Jûzô Itami.

The tale of an eccentric band of culinary ronin who guide the widow of a noodle-shop owner on her quest for the perfect recipe, this rapturous genre-bending adventure is underpinned by a deft satire of the way social conventions distort the most natural of human urges—our appetites.

Tampopo is a lavish tribute to the sensual joys of nourishment, and one of the most mouthwatering examples of food on film ever made.

"Tampopo is one of those utterly original movies that seems to exist in no known category. 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."

The film is available to stream on Internet Archive...
https://archive.org/details/tampopo-1985