His restaurant serves only sushi. It has 10 seats at a counter. It is in the basement of a Tokyo high-rise, not far from a subway stop. It has been awarded three stars, the highest possible rating, by the Michelin Guide. David Gelb's "Jiro Dreams of Sushi" is a documentary about a man whose relationship with sushi wavers between love and madness. He is a perfectionist, never satisfied, and if you go to work for him as an apprentice, you will have to spend weeks learning how to squeeze out a towel properly before moving on to learn how to slice a hard-boiled egg. He agonizes about the placement of mats on his counter. Great attention is paid to where along the counter the 10 customers are seated in relationship to one another. Jiro's 50-year-old son, Yoshikazu, works with him in the restaurant and will inherit it someday. A younger son runs an associated sushi bar elsewhere in Tokyo. At Jiro's, there is a three-month wait for a reservation. A typical meal will cost you more than $300.

It will not take very long to eat.sushi san francisco lombard streetThis is a portrait of tunnel vision. game magic sushi for androidJiro exists to make sushi. sushi london ontario all you can eatSushi exists to be made by Jiro. sushi los angeles chowhoundEven at the high prices of his premium fresh ingredients, you realize he must be a rich man. jualan sushi onlineBut to what end? food delivery in islington london

The existence of his sons are an indication that he has a wife, although we never see her. how much sushi vinegar do you put in riceHe must have a home, although we never visit it. There must be hours when he cannot be at work, but the film indicates no amusements, hobbies or pastimes. The idea of his courtship of his wife fascinates me: Forgive me, but I imagine that even while making love, he must be fretting about the loss of valuable sushi-making time. As a documentary about world-class sushi, this film is definitive. It runs only 81 minutes, but the subject is finite. While watching it, I found myself drawn into the mystery of this man. Are there any unrealized wishes in his life? If you find an occupation you love and spend your entire life working at it, is that enough? Standing behind his counter, Jiro notices things. Some customers are left-handed, some right-handed.

That helps determine where they are seated at his counter. As he serves a perfect piece of sushi, he observes it being eaten. He knows the history of that piece of seafood. He knows his staff has recently started massaging an octopus for 45 minutes and not half an hour, for example. Does he search a customer's eyes for a signal that this change has been an improvement? Half an hour of massage was good enough to win three Michelin stars. You realize the tragedy of Jiro Ono's life is that there are not, and will never be, four stars. The Unloved, Part 37: "Zabriskie Point" & "The Mystery of Oberwald" For the 37th installment in his video essay series about maligned masterworks, Scout Tafoya examines Michelangelo Ant... Who do you read? Good Roger, or Bad Roger? This message came to me from a reader named Peter Svensland. He and a fr... The Return of Peter Cushing: Another Look at an Underrated Career A look at highlights from the career of the great Peter Cushing.

The Unloved, Part 36: "Lisztomania" For the 36th installment in his video essay series about maligned masterworks, Scout Tafoya examines Ken Russell's "L... Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie ReynoldsOpens on Friday in Manhattan.Directed by David GelbIn Japanese, with English subtitles1 hour 21 minutes; not ratedAn aristocracy of taste guides the philosophy behind Sukiyabashi Jiro, the tiny, sushi-only restaurant in the Ginza shopping district of Tokyo that is spotlighted in David Gelb’s hagiographic debut feature, “Jiro Dreams of Sushi.” The chef, Jiro Ono, 85 in the film, plainly sees no reason to alter the 10-seat, fixed-menu, basement establishment — much less retire from a profession in which he is widely regarded as a god among men. Why change a good thing, when, in 2008, Michelin’s inaugural Tokyo guide awarded the eatery three stars — sans toilet? (The rating was reaffirmed in November.)Mr. Ono’s cult of admirers in this 81-minute documentary includes a Japanese food critic, the patiently diligent kitchen workers, an awe-struck former apprentice, dealers in fish and rice, cooing customers, and two sushi-slinging sons fully aware of the paternal burden of excellence.

They all yield valuable angles on the master, but despite foodie-baiting close-ups of nigiri sushi brushed with soy sauce, and montages of skillful food prep, the film falls short as a satisfying exploration of craft. Like many other such portraits, it wastes valuable time declaring its subject’s excellence that could be spent fleshing out demonstrations, explanations, context.Mr. Ono’s inspiring dedication is not in doubt: it will come as no surprise that he is a workaholic. Rather more absorbing are his story of fleeing home at 9 (later photos show a young man staring with rock-solid confidence), his parsing of fatty tuna’s simplistic taste and glimpses of his wicked wit. The question of authorship within restaurants remains tantalizingly, or politely, open; the filmmakers fabricate suspense around the relative merits of Mr. Ono’s eldest son, Yoshikazu, whose managerial role is paramount.Slathered in the Philip Glass iterations that have become a hackneyed substitute for editorial momentum, the documentary is shot with the Red camera, whose look is well suited to the glistening of the exquisitely prepared fish.