jiro dreams of sushi tomatoes
Cristina Alemán, editora en jefe (@mcristina) This year, FICM will take part in the 5th edition of the Morelia en Boca International Festival of Gastronomy and Wine. Both festivals celebrate the close relationship between the kitchen and the seventh art, as well as the beauty of our shared location. To commemorate the alliance between the festivals, we have decided to create a list of films that are somehow related to gastronomy, divided by nationality. This list is enormous, and our intention is to continue building it, based on suggestions received from our online community. So, if you can think of any titles that are not included here, please let us know! We will be receiving suggestions via our Facebook page (moreliafilmfest) and Twitter (@FICM) El camino del vino / The Way of Wine (2010), by Nicolás Carreras Babbettes gæstebud / Babbette’s Feast (1987), by Gabriel Azel Noma på Kogepunktet / Noma at Boiling Point (2010), by Christian Vorting Big Night (1996), by Campbell Scott and Stanley Tucci
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), by Mel Stuart Woman on Top (2000), by Fiona Torres Mugaritz BSO (2011), by Felipe Ugarte
jiro dreams of sushi david gelb Delicatessen (1991), by Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet
sushi fisch kaufen nordsee Entre les Bras / Step Up to the Plate (2012), by Paul Lacoste La femme du boulanger / The Baker’s Wife (1938), by Marcel Pagnol L’aile ou la cuisse / The Wing or Thigh? (1976), by Claude Zidi Le Chef (2012), by Daniel Cohen Sik san / The God of Cookery (1996), by Stephen Chow and Lik-Chi Lee Io sono l’amore / I Am Love (2009), by Luca Guadagnino Pranzo di ferragosto / Mid-August Lunch (2008), by Gianni Di Gregorio Tampopo (1985), by Jûzô Itami Canela / Cinnamon (2012), by Jordi Mariscal
Como agua para chocolate / Like Water for Chocolate (1992), by Alfonso Arau Macario (1960), by Roberto Gavaldón Vuelve a la vida (2010), by Carlos Hagerman (this film had a special screening at Morelia en Boca, organized by FICM). Nina’s Heavenly Delights (2006), by Pratibha Parmar Toast (2010), by S.J. Clarkson Germany and the United States: Oma & Bella (2012), by Alexa Karolinski Germany, Italy, Austria and Switzerland: Bella Martha / Mostly Martha (2001), by Sandra Nettelbeck Germany and Taiwan: Das Rohe und das Gekochte / The Raw and the Cooked (2012), by Monika Treut Brazil and Italy: Estômago / Estomago: A Gastronomic Story (2007), by Marcos Jorge China and Taiwan: Yin shi nan nü – Hao yuan you hao jin / Joyful Reunion (2012), by Jin-Yuan Tsao South Korea and Thailand: Final Recipe (2013), by Gina Kim Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France: Bon appétit (2010), by David Pinillos United States and Australia: No Reservations (2007), by Scott Hicks
United States and Hungary: Sideways (2004), by Alexander Payne United States and Japan: The Ramen Girl (2008), by Robert Allan Ackerman United States and the United Kingdom: Chocolat (2000), by Lasse Hallström United States and the United Kingdom: What’s Cooking? (2000), by Gurinder Chadha United States and Taiwan: Tin shi nan un / Eat Drink Man Woman (1994), by Ang Lee France and Belgium: Les émotifs anonymes / Romantics Anonymous (2010), by Jean-Pierre Améris France, Georgia, Ukraine, Belgium, Russia: Shekvarebull kulinaris ataserti retsepti / A Chef in Love (1996), by Nana Dzhordzhadze France and Italy: La grande abbuffata (1973), by Marco Ferreri France and Vietnam: Mùi du du xanh / The Scent of Green Papaya (1993), by Tran Anh Hung India, France, Germany and the United States: Dabba / The Lunchbox (2013), by Ritesh Batra India, United Arab Emirates and the United States: The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014), by Lasse Hallström
Ireland, Germany and the United States: Short Order (2005), by Anthony Byrne United Kingdom and France: The Cook, the Thief, his Wife & Her Lover (1989), by Peter Greenaway United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark and Ireland: Perfect Sense (2011), by David Mackenzie Audrey Tautou and Clotilde Courau to take center stage at the Morelia Film Festival Realizadores FICM 2016: Claudia Sainte-Luce The 14th FICM to pay tribute to actress Consuelo Frank Serguei Eisenstein in Mexico Rodrigo Prieto: Emotions in Cinematography El cine y la gastronomía en la experiencia de cuatro chefs My (super biased) list of the 25 best movies available for streaming on Netflix... Silence of the Lambs The Nightmare Before Christmas Terminator 2: Judgment Day Star Trek Into Darkness Indie Game: The Movie Kill Bill: Vol. 2See the world's most famous fish market before it closes. Long a pilgrimage destination for foodies visiting Japan, Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market offers a mindboggling array of prime seafood from around the world.
A loving look at the people who make it what it is, Naotaro Endo's Tsukiji Wonderland documents the scene for posterity, arriving just before the vast market is slated to close, moving to less valuable real estate further from the city center. Though perhaps more detailed than the casual moviegoer would like, the doc holds substantial appeal for the kind of audience that has made films like Jiro Dreams of Sushi word-of-mouth hits. Jiro Ono himself is among the many sushi chefs (and other culinary luminaries, including Noma's Rene Redzepi) who make appearances here, speaking at length about how much they depend on the market's "nakaoroshi," the intermediate wholesalers who cull through each day's arrivals and present the best they can find. We spend time with many of these men, some of whom can trace their stands' operations back to Tsukiji's 1935 opening. If we can't see for ourselves how discriminating they are, countless interviewees attest to a level of knowledge that is unparalleled.
These men know everything there is to know about gauging the quality of any given fish. Moreover, they get to know the sometimes peculiar preferences of each chef they serve, knowing which likes his sardines spongy. Kizushi chef Ryuichi Yui reports that one of his go-to merchants will reject 30 or 40 conger eels for every one he asks Yui to buy. A smart restaurateur has so much faith in his handful of nakaoroshi he'll even buy things he didn't order if the vendor thinks he should. Harvard anthropologist Theodore C. Bestor guides us through the market's history while local writers testify to its indispensable place in Japanese food culture. Even at nearly two hours, the film can't quite do justice to the physical scale of this place while depicting its chef/merchant social scene — it doesn't even mention the crush of tourists that has forced officials to write up new rules, nor does it visit the cafes surrounding the market where you can have a breakfast feast on the freshest sushi imaginable.