1985 - TAMPOPO, the ramen noodle comedy

 I'll have to admit when I saw this film back in the 1980's I didn't really get the jokes about food and the correct way to serve ramen noodles. Ramen wasn't really that popular in the United States at that time. After seeing it at a revival theater this week I can say this film is hilarious.

Nobuko Miyamoto plays a widow struggling to run a successful ramen noodle bar in Tokyo I believe.  Just when all is lost, in walks Tsutomu Yamazaki as a truck driver wearing a cowboy hat and driving a semi with the horns of a steer on top of it.  Yamazaki commits himself to helping her.

To do this, Yamazaki recruits a team to help Miyamoto become a success.  Right away the parallels to Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven become obvious and amusing.  The performances  throughout the film catch the comedic spirit of the story.  Nobuko Miyamoto as the put upon ramen chef may be down but she is not about to give up on her dream of running the best noodle bar in Tokyo.  Tsutomo Yamazaki is also hilarious as the brooding truck driver acting like an Asian John Wayne.

 

 Throughout the film the director Juzo Itami cuts to some brief vignettes showing other characters and their relationship to food.  Some of these vignettes walk the line between tragedy and comedy but all of them are very amusing.

Tampopo was a complete delight in this viewing and is highly recommended. 

The film was written by the director Juzo Itami and the running time is 115 minutes.