jiro dreams of sushi guardian review
Details: 2011, USA, Cert U, 81 mins This engaging portrait of an octogenarian master sushi chef will leave you watering at the mouth, writes Philip French Jiro Ono's exacting standards have earned him three Michelin stars, but it's his taciturn nature that spices and sours this documentary The week in TV 'Get your arse out, mate' Spanish football player's stunning solo goal Whitewater kayaking: 'I wanted to spend every day on the river' Quiz: Can you match each of these Bond villains with their own evil plot? Star Wars Episode VII: what we know as shooting starts The Goonies sequel confirmed by director Richard Donner After Gremlins and The Goonies, what other 80s films need a remake? 2 States and screen kisses: 'Bollywood is cranking it up a notch' Cate Blanchett sets her sights on Sutton Hoo drama The Dig Russian cinemas fined for showing The Wolf of Wall Street Noah review â 'a preposterous but endearingly unhinged epic'
This wholly delightful documentary is a loving portrait of the 85-year-old Jiro Ono, who prepares and serves the world's greatest sushi in an austere, immaculate, brightly lit 10-seater restaurant tucked in the corner of an underground station in the fashionable Ginza district of Tokyo.
genki sushi menu great killsHe's a self-critical workaholic whose pupils sign on for 10-year apprenticeships. Jiro has a pawky sense of humour, a Zen-like approach to his work, a genius for combining depth and flavour, and his two sons are nearly as accomplished as he is. Unlike virtually all TV cookery programmes, I left the cinema wanting to meet the man and eat his food.BERLIN -- It’s torture to watch Jiro Dreams of Sushi — if you are on an empty stomach. David Gelb’s documentary on Jiro Ono, the 85-year-old sushi chef whose Tokyo restaurant received three Michelin stars is a paean to perfectionism and crafty bit of food porn.
The trendiness and general accessibility of the topic means tasty offers from TV, theater and festivals will be handed on a plate to the sales agent. Never mind that the cinematography is so glossy the film sometimes looks like a fashion shoot. Or that it serves philosophy in bite-size without delving into the background or evolving culture of eating and preparing sushi in the wake of culinary globalization (you’ll learn more from a-dime-a-dozen Japanese manga on the subject). Shooting mostly in the 10-seater basement restaurant Sukiyayabashi Jiro (whose menu starts at around $300 minimum) in Ginza, the feature itself is largely squashed inside the chef’s small, meticulously routine world. Interviews with Jiro, his sons, his apprentices and food critics concur on his perfectionist attitude — not surprising if one is familiar with Japanese reverence for “shokunin” (artisan's) dedicated work ethic. Still, the lengths Jiro takes to maintain and improve his standards — from never taking a day off except to go to funerals, to massaging an octopus for 50 minutes, to customizing plate layout for left-handed customers — have their amusement value.
Conversations with his sons Yoshikazu and Takashi elicit sympathy for the pressure one would expect they’re under to sustain the restaurant’s reputation in the long term. The most touching anecdote comes from an apprentice’s account of how he wept when Jiro finally gave his approval to his egg dish after rejecting the previous 200 he made. The sushi pieces are shot professionally and edited snazzily to look like a mouthwatering slide show. Filming quality of other locations or scenes such as Tsukiji fish market, streets of Tokyo or activity in the kitchen are merely functional. One interviewee has likened Jiro to the conductor of an orchestra in the way he controls the work flow. Perhaps this explains the choice of pieces by Glass, Richter, J.S. Bach and Mozart for the score. It’s soothing and appropriate, but when it’s so thickly laid over nearly every non-dialogue passage, the effect is as overwhelming as dipping already-vinegared raw mackerel in soya sauce. Venue: Berlin Film Festival, Culinary Cinema
Production: City Room Media, Weaver/Pellegrini, Preferred Content, in association with Sundial Pictures. Featuring: Jiro Ono, Yoshikazu Ono, Takashi Ono, Masuhiro Yamamoto Executive producers: Matthew Weaver, Joey Carey, Stefan Nowicki Producer: Kevin Iwashina, Tom Pellegrini No rating, 83 minutesJiro Dreams of Sushi, review Jiro Dreams of Sushi sets a drool-flecked new standard in food porn, writes Robbie U cert, 82 min. Dir David Gelb Starring Jiro Ono, Yoshikazu Ono, Hachiro Mizutani, Masuhiro Yamamoto Jiro Dreams of Sushi sets a drool-flecked new standard in food porn, and makes the moanings and gruntings of Nigella Lawson look softcore by comparison. Jiro Ono is the 86-year-old owner of a 10-seater sushi bar in the basement of a Tokyo office block, and one of the most famous chefs in Japan. His painstakingly crafted morsels of fish and rice glisten like wet jewels, as sensual as anything served up in Babette’s Feast (1987) or Chocolat (2000), and David Gelb’s adoring documentary misses no opportunity for a tremulous close-up.
Perfection has a price, and dinner at Sukiyabashi Jiro is £200 a head. We see Jiro’s 50‑year-old eldest son and heir, Yoshikazu, selecting the very best seafood at dawn from the Lovecraftian tanks of Tokyo’s Tsukiji fish market, and apprentices diligently eviscerating eels and massaging octopi in the kitchen. A Japanese food critic sheds further light on the promotion structure: “After about 10 years, he lets you cook the eggs.” Gelb clevery shapes Jiro’s story into an Ozu-like meditation on duty, destiny and legacy, and has a good ear for background music (mostly Philip Glass) and revealing anecdotes. Your mouth and mind will water uncontrollably. The best movies to watch Box office hits in 2014 Michael Keaton: 'Who are you calling a washed-up superhero?' The 80 best films on Netflix The best films in cinemas now Casablanca, starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, has haunting songs, bittersweet emotion and excellent hats Gallipoli, film review: 'heartbreaking'