Absolutely Fantastic

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Tampopo (Japanese: Tanpopo (Dandelion)) (1985) Director: Juzo Itami 8/10 A "Ramen Western", Charming characters and plot, Visually winsome, Satiate all your cravings, Gastronomic and sexual! Though well-paced funny, Satirical side vignettes Felt interruptive And discomfiting to watch. Sadly, both better alone. Somonka is a form of poetry that is essentially two tanka poems (the 5-7-5-7-7 syllable format), the second stanza a response to the first. Traditionally, each is a love letter and it requires two authors, but sometimes a poet takes on two personas. My somonka will be a love/hate letter to this film? #Somonka #PoemReview

A widow with a young child runs a small and unsuccessful restaurant. A chance encounter with strangers allows her to grasp a sad truth : her noodle soup just isn't good enough. Accompanied by one of the strangers, who becomes her mentor, friend and bodyguard, she sets out on a quest to make the very best noodle soup in the city. She's not the only one to worry and obsess about Japanese cuisine : all around her there are people heavily invested in food, for a variety of more or less logical, more or less sane reasons.In "Tampopo" food is used and abused, wasted and exalted, reviewed and gobbled, stolen and shared. The movie examines the myriad ways in which humans deal with the basic need for nutrition and it does so against the backdrop of an highly complex society alternating uneasily between tradition and Western influence. The results, just as in real life, can be laugh-out-loud funny, quietly amusing, striking, heartrending or just plain weird."Tampopo" also knows his classics : at the end, the mentor, friend and bodyguard departs after having performed his noble work, just as any knight-errant (or rather, cowboy-errant) from Hollywood legend. As a Belgian reared on Lucky Luke, I found myself singing "I'm a poor lonesome cowboy and I'm a long way from home"...Much to be commended.

Funny, mesmerizing, original, both spoof and serious, Tampopo is a 'ramen western" that is secretly about bringing the best out of a woman, In this case Tampopo. With bifurcating stories about food as the bond in all human relations, from birth to death, to sex and back again, the men in the film finally get it right. Pay attention to their personal histories of loss and love, to what is thrown away, lost or devalued, In Japanese Tampopo means Dandelion,and in Japanese culture dandelions are admired for their strength and deep roots and the ability to return each spring. This film has many seed stories, tossed in so many directions your mind cannot keep them all together. A film to see and see again, over time. A bowl of noodles will never be the same again.

I can't count the number of times I've watched this wonder, discovered one night when I rented it from the local video store in 1993. I believe that like a great recipe, you need to practice it at least a dozen times to start to get a grip on it. Every time I watch it I take more pleasure as I get older (and hopefully wiser). This film is without a doubt one of the most sensual, generous masterly realized movie of all times. It is to be hold close to Fritz Lang and Kubrik masterpieces, but obviously in a completely different register. It would take me all night to decipher the various reasons why this pure marvel is so good. But this is not required. It is simply a tale about life and death, and the ongoing process of sex and food in between the two. Epicurism was never thought to be a Japanese value, until we Westerners with all our believes and convictions, realized that Japanese culture encompasses much more that our restrained field of philosophy. This ode to life touches all aspects of our arrogant human society in so many FUNNY and touching ways that I could hardly compare it to anything else watched anywhere else. In a way it is an encyclopedia of human traits. Maybe "La Grande Bouffe" would be the closest contender on SOME aspects only. But Tampopo goes much further in my opinion. And above all the marvelous acting makes it SO FUNNY!! Every time I watch it I laugh more... To have managed to put all these traits of human behavior in only one such great movie is truly an ASTONISHING work in terms of scripting, directing and editing. But even the way it is filmed is perfection itself. Above all keep in mind this NOT a serious boring movie at all but a funny piece of cake to watch... A bit crazy too!! Be aware you'll never look at your bowl of noodles the same way after watching this movie!! "Bon appetite!!"