Tampopo (3 Stars)

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Tampopo is the name of a young widow who owns a restaurant that serves noodle soup. Two truck drivers, Goru and Gun, find her restaurant when they save her son from being beat up by bullies. She serves them noodle soup, but they aren't very impressed with the taste. Goru offers to teach her how to make better noodle soup, partly from his own knowledge, partly by visiting other restaurants.

The film isn't easy to understand, at least not on first viewing. There are a lot of characters who appear in the film in scenes that don't seem to be relevant. In fact, the film's very first scene isn't relevant, apart from introducing noodle soup. After the film it was explained to me that the interspersed scenes really aren't relevant to the plot. They're just vignettes to show the cultural significance of Japanese food. For instance, in one scene a women is teaching Japanese women how to eat spaghetti. She tells them that it has to be eaten silently. After seeing and hearing a man slurping Japanese noodles at a nearby table, they decide that the Japanese way is better.

It's an interesting film, but it seems too erratic. I want to give it another chance.

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