Japan, Food and Sex: Tampopo (1985)

Tampopo, directed by Juzo Itami, is an often overlooked comedy that I had the pleasure of stumbling upon during one of my university’s cultural film presentations.  The movie, for the most part, revolves around a trucker by the name of Goro who rolls into town like a cowboy to help the lady in distress – Tampopo - revitalize her failing noodle restaurant.  He does battle with bad guys who seek to undermine Tampopo’s success and gets into more than one fist-fight (as every cowboy worth his salt should).  The story of Goro and Tampopo is just one of the many lines that run through this movie, however.

Tampopo is a collage of smaller films, all themed around the relations between food and human interaction – from public, social interaction to sexuality.  It comes across like a spaghetti western in the main storyline (it was affectionately referred to as a “ramen western” during its release) and is filled with clichés, though used in an intelligent and amusing manner.

The side-stories range from the sexually-inclined eating habits of a Yakuza gangster to a lesson on how not to slurp your noodles when eating Italian pasta.  Those who have experience with Japanese culture will no doubt recognize many of the social and cultural elements that Itami is referencing.

Tampopo is an intelligent film that, despite its rather slapstick approach, takes a serious look at the ingrained effects on relations that food has for people of every culture.  Though it comes from a Japanese perspective, it is easily relatable to people of any country and is enjoyable by more than just those who really love ramen noodles.  I highly recommend it for those who enjoy light-hearted yet insightful films.