“Early in Juzo Itami’s 1985 film Tampopo, a young man sidles up to the counter of a ramen restaurant, accompanied by an elderly sensei who, the narrator explains, has been studying the traditional Japanese soup dish for 40 years. Wide-eyed and ravenous when the steaming bowl of noodles, broth, sliced pork and decorative nori is presented to him, the young man hungrily raises the bowl to his lips. Meanwhile, the old master sits there, all sagacious-like, as if lost in a trance.
“The apprentice beseeches his teacher, wondering if he should slurp the broth or the noodles first. 'First,' the old man responds, 'contemplate the ramen.' And as ludicrous or high-flown as it may sound, that’s precisely what Tampopo is: a contemplation of ramen.
“Tampopo is a film that’s enlivened by such conflict and contradiction, mashing up styles and genre and moods in the telling of its story about the titular Tampopo (Nobuko Miyamoto), an apprentice ramen chef mastering her art. Tampopo is a welcome reminder that even the most sacrosanct of cultural traditions shouldn’t be taken so insufferably seriously.” - The Globe and Mail
"Even today, 'Tampopo' remains as fresh and funny as it was back in 1985. One of the greatest food movies of all time." - Philadelphia Inquirer
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