Retrospective Film Review

Tampopo (1985) • 35 Years Later

A truck driver stops at a small family-run noodle shop and decides to help its fledgling business.

Tampopo is a film about food, life, and everything in between. It’s passionate, sensual, and funny, encompassing all tastes. It’s also my favourite film about food. And I’m not alone. Alice Waters (food writer, chef, and founder of celebrated Californian restaurant Chez Pannisse) also thinks so, as it was recommended viewing for all her employees!

Tampopo is a genre all its own: the ‘Noodle Western’. It concerns one of Japan’s cheapest and tastiest foods — ramen — which is noodles in a broth with toppings that vary according to region and season. The word ‘tampopo’ is Japanese for ‘dandelion’, which is the name of the story’s heroine (Nobuko Miyamoto), a widow who’s inherited a run-down noodle joint. And the story truly begins when she’s inspired by a customer, lorry driver Goro (Tsutomu Yamazaki), whose name means ‘Bull’, to up her game and make it a thriving place of excellence.