Tampopo Analysis - 1448 Words

Itami Juzo’s Tampopo is one of the handfuls of motion pictures created towards the infrequent â€Å"noodle western† genre of filmography. Released in 1985, Tampopo explores the journey of two truck drivers named Goro and Gun who one night— filled with a torrential downpour – stumble upon a mediocre noodle eatery owned and operated by a single mother named Tampopo. Throughout the film, both Goro and Gun as well as some of their friends aid in completely revamping Tampopo’s noodle joint into a glorious and distinguished ramen restaurant. In addition to a focal storyline in Itami’s film, there is an additional number of sporadic side scenes to supportively illustrate the point that food is not only considered an important necessity that fulfills†¦show more content†¦We see this first in the scene displaying a mortally ill mother surrounded by her family and healthcare providers. In her final moments of life, it is seen that her husband is encouraging her to pull through, but then briefly mentions that she has not prepared dinner yet for the family. Subsequently, she springs to life hastily sprinting to the kitchen to fix the final meal for her family. After it is all cooked, she serves the food and lays down eventually being pronounced deceased by the doctor. With that, the family weeps as the father tearfully scolds the children to stop crying and savor the concluding meal their mother has prepared for them. In relevance to the topic of how food is a livelihood, Itami illuminates that the mother was not ready for death until she fulfilled her last duty which was dinner. When she finishes cooking dinner, she is gratified and receives death bidding farewell to the fulfilled retrospection as the dutiful and empathetic mother and wife she was. For the ensuing facet, we as an audience see a number of moments regarding food as a usage of gauging daily interest and happiness. A pivotal representation of this is our foca l plot of Tampopo and her objective of becoming elite at cooking noodles in order to save her business. When Goro and Gun deliver criticism on her noodles, she pleads for their assistance in becoming a master at cooking.