I love food movies, but there is absolutely no (food) movie out there that's better than the 1985 film Tampopo (tanpopo タンポポ). Even when we're rating outside the "food movie" spectrum (is there an Oscars category for that?), I'd still put this movie in my top 10 (and I bet I've seen at least twelve movies in my life, so that's pretty good). But still, unlike other "food movies" out there, I'd argue that this one has the most to teach about life, the universe and everything. Deep Thought figured out the question – this movie, my friends, is the answer. Oh, and did I mention Ken Watanabe's in this movie? He's a young'un.
Zen And The Art Of Making Ramen
Tampopo is about food. But besides food (if you're into plots, and things like that), it's also about a pair of truck drivers that stop at a small local ramen shop to get some grub. After getting into a fight with one of the other patrons, Goro (the main truck driver) wakes up in Tampopo's house (the owner of the Ramen shop). She asks him what he thinks of her noodles (I swear, not sexual innuendo… okay, maybe), and he says they were pretty terrible. Eventually, this leads him to agree to help her to make a better ramen shop (and better ramen too). The story is about all the things they do to make her ramen better. Think of Rocky, but instead of Sylvester Stallone you have someone training to make ramen.
Like many good films, it has comedy, it has romance, and it even has some action… but most importantly, it has food. Delicious, tasty, food (and Ken Watanabe). But, it's not just about food… it's about being human. And what does every human relate to, more than almost anything else? You guessed it – the tasty stuff you put into your mouth. Not everyone can relate to Vin Diesel flipping cars and jumping off things… but food? Heck yeah. Everyone's eaten food before.
Tampopo Psychology & Philosophy
Before we even get to the clips, let's look at Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Have you heard of it before? The idea is that you have to fulfill the bottom rung before you can move up to the next rung, and so on and so forth. If you don't have your "Belonging Needs," for example, you can't start filling your "Esteem Needs."
Tampopo is about the "Physiological Needs." That's like the need to breathe, or the need to eat and drink. Food, I'd say, is the most interesting of all the physiological needs, but it goes much further than that. Tampopo's story is based on the physiological (fooooood!), but it stems out to show how food also gets involved in everything else, more so than other physiological needs. The message is that food is everything and food is everywhere. Even if you have everything, food still shows up. Food is what ties us all together as humans.
Despite there being humans throughout the movie, I wouldn't say that the real characters were people at all. I'd be more prone to say that the main characters were food. Specifically, Ramen.
If The Main Character Is Ramen…
Normally main characters in movies are folks like Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. In Tampopo, I'd say the main character is just Ramen. Like any movie, though, there's a supporting cast of all sorts of other foods too, all somehow relating to humanity as a whole. Food is the thing that binds us and food is the thing that makes us people.
While the main storyline is about Tampopo progressing through life via ramen and the making of it, the movie is broken up with little short-films that pop up in between scenes. All of these short films can probably stand alone, but together they have a bigger message. Despite the fact that they're all about food, they're all about how food is an important part of life. No matter who you are, what culture you are, or how you live… food is still there, and is also the key to happiness.
It's like a sort of Tampopo Philosophy, if you will. A way of life and a way to live. I for one am ready to welcome my new Ramen overlords.
Living Your Life By Tampopo
While the overarching main storyline is an important part of the puzzle, it's only one piece. Live your life well, improve, spend time with other people, work hard… these are good lessons. But, we mustn't forget about the littler things in life. These things are shown in the short films within the film. I'd like to go through each one by one, going over the lesson it teaches about life.
The Little Things
This is one of the first scenes in the film. The amount of love and emotion that the master puts into the ramen seems absurd (and kind of is). But I think that it's just bringing to the surface a love for food that everyone has (but has just forgotten about). When you have something a lot, you start taking it for granted. If you see a view too many times, if you hang out with the same person too much, if you eat every day (I bet you do)… you'll lose the passion and love that the Ramen master clearly has for the ramen, even though he's eaten the ramen hundreds, probably thousands of times. It reminds us to enjoy the little things – to see the beauty, so to speak. So, look around you. What have you taken for granted. What have you forgotten is truly beautiful in your life? You should try to see things for what they really are: Amazing.
Humanity
The Spaghetti Scene is one of the funnier ones. The group of Japanese women are learning how to eat like "proper" Western diners, but when it comes down to it, they all find out that it really doesn't matter (it's the food that matters). Food isn't so much a "national" thing, or something like that. It's something that spans across all peoples and all cultures. It's something that reminds us that we're all just people, and we're all the same. There's no one culture or person who's better than the other. We all do things differently, sure, but those differences are just skin deep. When it comes to being human, and when it comes to eating (which is what all humans share), we all eat exactly the same. If you remember that, you'll realize that people aren't all that scary. They're the same, like you and I. We're all just gasp humans!
Sex
Okay, so things get pretty weird right about here. You start getting the erotic-food stuff here (happens a couple times in the movie, actually). But you know what? Food is as important as sex, if not more important. So, why not mix the two? Actually, I think I know why… this is weird.
Living
Food isn't just about taste, though. It's about texture as well. You know that crunch you get when you bite a crispy potato chip? It wouldn't be the same without the crunch, even if the taste was exactly the same. This lady might be crazy, but she shows how important texture on food is. There's something kind of admirable about the crazy lady, though. She's bold. She goes out and feels everything, even when she isn't really supposed to. In the end, I think we all kind of want to be like this lady. I want to be able to go out and talk to strangers. I don't want to feel like I need to do what society demands of me all the time. I want to be free – and this woman embodies that. Sure, she's breaking some rules, but you gotta break some rules to feel some peaches, ammirite?
Living sometimes also involves risks, though. This old man is told that he can't eat this, that, and all sorts of other things. As soon as his daughter leaves, he orders all the things he's not supposed to. Why? Because you gotta live. I think sometimes we're too cautious in life. But in the end, you still become an old man (aka you probably won't die if you take a risk, but you won't live if you don't). So, you have to make sure you take risks. Taking risks is as important as eating, I think this scene is saying. What risks have you put off just because you're scared of a worst-case-scenario that probably won't happen?
Giving
I also feel sorry for these kinds of kids. Their parents tell them what they can and can't eat. To a certain point, that's probably a good idea… but to never have ice cream? Crazzzy!
This scene is about learning to give to those who don't have what you have. Do you have the ice cream? What about that poor kid in some third world country who doesn't? Being giving not because you want to get something back is important. Give just for the sake of the happiness of the other person… that's what this scene is saying. What can you give to someone less fortunate? What can you do to make someone happier who doesn't have what you have?
Hierarchy
There's a hierarchy in life that most of us follow, at least to a certain degree. I remember watching this scene in some Japanese Society class. The highest ranking person gets to order what they want. Everyone else has to pretend like they're ordering what they want too, but they have to actually just order the same thing as the top dog. The very last subordinate in this scene, however, doesn't know this (or forgot), so he takes his time ordering what he wants. I think this scene begs a question… why do you do what everyone else does when it makes you unhappy? Surely this person would not get the full enjoyment out of the meal if he had to order the same thing as everything else. It doesn't actually hurt anyone if he orders what makes him happy, so why shouldn't he? Why should we do what society asks us to do when it doesn't make sense (sometimes it does make sense, though, that's the distinguisher you have to figure out). As is often the case, food represents happiness – why not choose to take it?
Happiness Via Simplicity
Speaking of happiness, this isn't one of the "short film" bits in Tampopo, but it is a main storyline scene I liked a lot. They meet up with some homeless folks who help share some ramen secrets with Tampopo. But, the thing I noticed most was their happiness. They don't have homes and they're on the street… despite this, they're so happy. While this isn't necessarily an accurate depiction of homeless people, it does paint an ideal picture. This group of homeless people latch onto food as their source of happiness. Despite their conditions, they strive to make and eat good food out of what they have, and through all of that they're so happy, too. It just shows that we can be happy if we have basic things as well. We don't have to have a Playstation or iPad or whatever to be happy. In fact, people with nothing are happier than you. Why is that? Because they have the basics. They don't need these other things. The message here is that things don't make you happy – food, companionship, and happiness make you happy.
On Dying
Now, it wouldn't be a full story if there wasn't some death in there, too. Death is a part of life, unfortunately, and in Tampopo food permeates this death more than anything else.
This is definitely the saddest scene in Tampopo, but also one of the most touching. Despite being nearly dead, the only thing that gets her up is being able to cook a last meal for her family. As soon as she sees that her family is enjoying her food and taken care of, she promptly dies right there, while the food is still warm. When she does, it's the food they pay attention to, though. It's her last meal, and you have to eat it while it's hot. There's something about food that brings people together, no? There's always talk about how families should eat at the dinner table together, without television and whatnot. Spend some quality time together around food.
Food is also something that's very memorable. If you have a relative that's passed away, you often remember them for the food they made for you. Why? First, because food utilizes several senses (touch, sight, smell, and taste), which makes it more memorable. Second, food is a way to take care of others. To provide and care for them. When you make food for someone else, you feel good about yourself and they feel good about you. Food binds people, and food creates friendships and families (there's a reason why people say "the best way to a man's heart is through his stomach").
And then there's this death scene. As he's lying there, dying, he pretty much only talks about food. Not only that, he talks about sharing the food with his lady. Even in his last breaths, all he's talking about is food. Why? Because food is the thing that brings us together. Food is just as much about life as it is about death. Hopefully, though, there's no regrets about your life when you die. So, make sure you go out and hunt those boars and take their Yam guts out and grill them now before it's too late, right?
Or, Maybe It's Just A Movie…
Maybe… but I don't think so. There's too many messages about life and about happiness, and food is the thing that brings all those life lessons together. If you haven't seen Tampopo, I'd highly recommend it. I'm sure there's places to get a DVD, though I didn't see it on Netflix. You're also able to watch the entire film on YouTube… though, you know, you're probably not supposed to, or something. But it's there, nonetheless, and in decent quality considering the age of the film.
No matter how you watch it, though, it's still one of the greatest movies ever made (in my opinion). If you like food and you like people, it's hard not to like this film as well… and I think most people like food and people, so what are you waiting for?
P.S. Let us know on Twitter what you think about this movie. What life lessons have you gotten from all these food-filled scenes?
Koichi’s Review
This is one of the greatest movies of all time, in my opinion. To understand Japanese food culture (albeit a somewhat perverse perspective), this movie is an important part of history. You’ll see many aspects of Japanese life, as well. Oh, and a young Ken Watanabe.
Viet’s Review
It is a classic, for sure—I think a must watch for anyone into Japanese cinema.
Kanae’s Review
Some of the scenes are literal “food porn.” It inspired me so much I almost thought of making one and submitting it to Hump Fest.