Tampopo

From the director of The Funeral (reviewed above), comes a delightful satire on two subjects which preoccupy all people, regardless of gender or country of origin: food and sex. Not since the immortally sensuous eating scene between Albert Finney and Joyce Redman in Tom Jones, has a film so brilliantly bridged the relationship between these two deadly sins (gluttony and lust). Dubbed "the first noodle Western", Tampopo tells the story of a young widow (Nobuko Miyamoto) who operates a small noodle restaurant, and is fervently committed to creating the perfect bowl of ramen. Aiding and abetting her is Goro (Tsutomu Yamazaki), a truck-driving cowboy who knows his noodles, and pledges himself to turning this culinary Rocky into a contender. Along the way, the chopstick-wielding duo enlist the aid of a band of zanies, lock horns with the village's reigning noodle maestros, and come out smiling victors in this no-comic-holds-barred noodlerama. (In fact, the tension was so thick, we had to make three separate trips to the kitchen for gastronomic reinforcements.) Highly recommended. (See D.O.A. for availability.)