Agreed.

It's a beautiful, hysterical, awesome movie.

I'd go so far as to say anyone who doesn't like it rapes dead baby goats while wearing a Nazi uniform.

"Appreciate its Gestalt."

I forgot how much I love that movie.

It is pretty much my favorite movie of all time. Ken Watanabe is the farking man, and Juzo Itami is an amazing director.

It's one of those films that transcends expectations on all levels. Funny, satirical, goofy, and then it sucker punches you with being so damn touching that it almost shocks you with its sincerity, and does so without the obvious "This is going to be sappy" moments that try to artificially prop it up.

Amazing film.

Big Night ain't bad.

It's more of a risotto movie though...

TheShavingofOccam123: Big Night ain't bad.

It's more of a risotto movie though...

+ 100000000

It's more of a Timpano movie actually.

When I eat ramen, I always remember to give the pork a tender look as I set it to one side, to eat later.

GREAT movie! I forgot how funny it was...
Thanks, smitty!

'Apprecitate the gestalt' indeed.

btw "Big Night" is crap, and overrated crap at that.

Best quotes:

"Jewels of fat glittering on the surface"
(Bacon has the same properties! I demand a Bacon Movie!... And bacon)

"Then poke the pork"
(*snort*)

It's a great movie. Always makes me hungry. Once I paused it and went out to get some take-out ramen.

The dialogue is full of commonly used Japanese phrases that will serve anyone learning the language well.

mfaby: btw "Big Night" is crap, and overrated crap at that.

Then you would like a Ha..ha...ha... how you say, hot dog?

Why am I just now learning of the existence of this movie?

RAMEN THREAD!!!

As someone who has to live with a Chinese roommate, I neither appreciate the unholy smell he makes when cooking, nor the sound he makes while slurping up his stinking noodles, nor the general filth and stink he leaves everywhere he walks.fark asians and their stinking food.

From Big Night:

Primo: To eat good food is to be close to God.

Check please!!!

The whole "book" theme is actually an reworking of How to Make Love to a Woman." The author adapted it perfectly.

/sorry, art degree showing though

//Gaylord: you are a troll and a douche. Turn in your FARK card and DIAF

You CANNOT watch this movie without getting hungry for noodles. I love the scene with the room full of stuffy businessmen and their bumbling young assistant out-orders all of them. Pure genius, one of my top 10.

My (then) 7 year old loved this film. It's no Ikuru, but it has its charms.

I read the title on the package wrong, and half expected a Japanese health education film.

skinink: Netflix

Sadly it's not available on netflix. I managed to get a VHS copy on amazon and bootleg dvds are available on ebay. This movie is worth it.

Holy crap do I want some for reals ramen right now. Unfortunately the closest thing I'm going to get is Pho in Minneapolis on a Sunday.

I drink to that!

brooksmus: skinink: Netflix

Sadly it's not available on netflix. I managed to get a VHS copy on amazon and bootleg dvds are available on ebay. This movie is worth it.

Yup, just found it out when I had to put it on my "Save" option. Why is it that some movies are not out on DVD? The Krays is another movie that is not out on DVd, but is is one of the better crime movies you could watch. Plus things like the IT Crowd still isn't on DVD, but other crappy tv shows will be available 5 months after the season ending episode has aired.

This many comments in and no one has mentioned the food sex? Did the import version remove all of those scenes?

You can grab the movie on amazon, and it is a great movie.

It is out in DVD Region 2, Japanese language with English subs. So get a region free DVD player and learn to love subtitles.

Contains noodle frontity, prawn pr0n, and content.

Tampopo is the best food movie ever, in my book. I liked Big Night, too, but Tampopo really works on a lot more levels. For one thing, it's a movie about loving movies as well as loving food. Clever without being arch, moving without being saccharine, knowing about connoisseurship without being snotty, and just plain hilarious, whereas most film comedies just give me a pain. I have an old VHS of it which I treasure; still waiting for a DVD version to come out.

skinink: brooksmus: skinink: Netflix

Sadly it's not available on netflix. I managed to get a VHS copy on amazon and bootleg dvds are available on ebay. This movie is worth it.

Yup, just found it out when I had to put it on my "Save" option. Why is it that some movies are not out on DVD? The Krays is another movie that is not out on DVd, but is is one of the better crime movies you could watch. Plus things like the IT Crowd still isn't on DVD, but other crappy tv shows will be available 5 months after the season ending episode has aired.

That's where those wonderful torrent servers from sweden comes in, freeing the populace from the opression of the ignorant capitalist pigs.

Lulz. Anyways, that site has two tampopo links, one for AVI and one for a torrent.

/ not really a socialist nor communist. Just wanted to have fun saying ignorant capitalist pigs.

brooksmus
Sadly it's not available on netflix. I managed to get a VHS copy on amazon and bootleg dvds are available on ebay. This movie is worth it.

If you can play RC2 DVDs: here it is on amazon.de Tampopo

Audio tracks are Japanese and German, but there are English (and German) subtitles.

One of my top ten favorite movies ... and the only one no one I know has never seen.

Nice to see this movie getting some love! I saw this years ago and I still think about it from time to time.

You can track this down via torrent trackers if you're not opposed to such things....

Loved Tampopo, but another good foodie movie is Babette's Feast. Slow, slow movie, but GREAT (and touching) food scene towards end of the film.

Witchydiva: Loved Tampopo, but another good foodie movie is Babette's Feast. Slow, slow movie, but GREAT (and touching) food scene towards end of the film.

Withnail and I has some lovely food themes in it with Uncle Monty.

TheShavingofOccam123: Witchydiva: Loved Tampopo, but another good foodie movie is Babette's Feast. Slow, slow movie, but GREAT (and touching) food scene towards end of the film.

Withnail and I has some lovely food themes in it with Uncle Monty.

"The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover" was just plain creepy.

One of my all-time favorite movies. The egg yolk/honey/live-shrimp-on-a-lady's-stomach scene? Sexy AND disturbing. A winning combination!

They're only noodles, Michael

Pretty cool film.... we got to watch a couple of scenes in my History of Japan course last year.

Oh how I miss college.

Witchydiva: "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover" was just plain creepy.

Now there is a movie that is both exceptionally beautiful and disturbing. Everyone must see it. Once.


I'm hoping that one day there will be a fully restored Juzo Itami DVD collection. Tampopo is certainly his most surreal film, and my favorite, but the Taxing Woman movies and Minbo are must-sees too.

I have an unfortunately heavily edited VHS copy of Tampopo, recorded from Bravo back in the day when they showed foreign and art films. They took out the food sex scene, not much else, but it made the later scene when the gangster gets shot make even less sense.

Not food related, but Minbo no onna was pretty funny too.

/Some yakuza slashed Juzo Itami's face with a knife over that movie's portrayal of yakuza.
//Not this kind of slash.

zimbach: .... but the Taxing Woman movies and Minbo are must-sees too.


A Taxing Woman is my terrific, TW2 is way down on the list unfortunately. Slot 'God of Cookery' into its place.

hubiestubert: It is pretty much my favorite movie of all time. Ken Watanabe is the farking man, and Juzo Itami is an amazing director.

Agreed. Watching this, sex scene included, during my junior year in high school made me go for a major in Japanese. Silly ditzy Japanese teacher, she left the room and forgot about that scene.

The entire class was full of "WTF?"

Gaylord Fister: As someone who has to live with a Chinese roommate, I neither appreciate the unholy smell he makes when cooking, nor the sound he makes while slurping up his stinking noodles, nor the general filth and stink he leaves everywhere he walks.fark asians and their stinking food.

Umm...this is Japanese.
Lot of difference there.

Was priveleged to watch it with a Japanese friend so he explained a lot of the cultural stuff which went right over my head.
Then he made REAL soba (buckwheat) noodles.
What we call 'ramen' and real Japanese ramen has very little in common.

You're missing so much...

brooksmus: skinink: Netflix

Sadly it's not available on netflix. I managed to get a VHS copy on amazon and bootleg dvds are available on ebay. This movie is worth it.

if enough people 'save' it, they'll get it. Go to your netflix account, enter 'tampopo' in the search box and click save. do it. now.

I hope some day they make a Repo Man-Tampopo crossover movie.

/Plate of shrimp udon
//The life of a noodle chef is always intense

skinink: brooksmus: skinink: Netflix

Sadly it's not available on netflix. I managed to get a VHS copy on amazon and bootleg dvds are available on ebay. This movie is worth it.

Yup, just found it out when I had to put it on my "Save" option. Why is it that some movies are not out on DVD? The Krays is another movie that is not out on DVd, but is is one of the better crime movies you could watch. Plus things like the IT Crowd still isn't on DVD, but other crappy tv shows will be available 5 months after the season ending episode has aired.

It is out on DVD. I can walk two blocks to Five-Star Video and get a copy.

I've been waiting for NetFlix to get it for over four years.

They also didn't have The Road Warrior for a number of years.

syzygy whizz: Then he made REAL soba (buckwheat) noodles.
What we call 'ramen' and real Japanese ramen has very little in common.

While they share some traits in common, soba is not ramen. It's not an unforgivable confusion, just along the lines of mixing up linguine with fettuccine .

HiveKrZ: A challenger appears.



Had you said this, we might have something...

One of my favorite scenes (I've seen this movie several times) is the French restaurant scene where the boss (who hasn't a clue) just orders soup or something (I don't even remember) and all the lackeys order "the same", except for the most junior member of the group who recognizes the French cooking school that the chef went to, and orders all the specialties, and the perfect wine to go with it; the waiter is just beaming and saying "Oh, very good sir!!" and the boss (and all the lackeys) are frowning and scowling.

Sometimes I get nervous ordering at a restaurant ...

Tip: when in a Greek place, order the Saganaki. Flaming cheese. Very impressive.

Actually, I just realized that Tampopo has been out on DVD for nearly 10 years.

I rented it right after moving to Berkeley in 1997. There was a Long Life Noodle Co. on Shattuck back then. That's were I went to buy ramen in the middle of the movie. LLNC actually has a ramen called "The Tampopo" which I ordered. I also bought a bowl to eat it from.

Went home, finished the movie while eating ramen.


Just about four weeks ago, my gf was visiting from Tokyo and we watched it together. She'd never seen it (she seldom watches movies) and she really liked it.

She's promised to translate a better set of subtitles for me, so I can use them with the movie to learn Japanese faster.