
Director : Jūzō Itami
Country : Japan
Release Date : 1985
Duration : 114 mins
Language : Japanese
Subtitles : Yes
An entertaining, genre-bending adventure of a band of misfits who help a noodle-shop owner in her quest for the perfect recipe to make ramen (noodles). Many elements of the film closely and knowingly parallel classic Westerns – a ‘spaghetti Eastern’ no less with nods to Clint Eastwood and Luis Buñuel along the way. A mysterious stranger rides into town and saves the pretty widow from being harassed by bad men. Interspersed with the erotic exploits of a gastronome gangster, a crazy lady who squeezes all the fruit in a shop and the glimpses of food culture both high and low, the sweet, sexy and surreal Tampopo (Dandelion) is a lavishly inclusive paean to the sensual joys of nourishment and one of the most mouthwatering examples of food on film ever made.
“A thriving, celebratory and delightful classic that will leave you ravished by the end, for ramen, Asian cuisine or really, any form of sustenance.” (Tina Hassannia – National Post)