I think this was a great review. I haven't seen the movie yet but this review has convinced me that I'd like it very much. I'm truly a lover of sushi.

I'm a lover of Japan. I supposed I would always see Japanese anything through a keyhole of ambivalence. But learning I had the opportunity to travel there inspired me to learn some of the language, brush up on cultural manners, and seriously dig into Japanese history, geography, architecture, music, etc. etc.

So I'll love this movie -- even though I'm vegan. Traveling in Japan, apart from the shojin ryori found in Kyoto, was quite a dietary challenge. After a few days, I decided to loosen the belt on my covenant.

The sushi chefs in Japan are formidable. Fuckin' scary at first.

"SUMIMASEN - DO ITASHI MASHIteeeeEEEEIiieeeEEEEEEeII" , levied at you in the most cartoonishly intimidating, gutterally magnificent show of elderly, masculine vocal authority is what you'll invariably encounter upon entering any tiny hole in the wall where excellent sushi is served.

You'll sheepishly find a place to sit. Thereafter, any words that aren't yelled will be disregarded there. You will yell SUMIMASEN!!!! (excuse me!!!!), [some quantity of some kind of fish], KUDASAI!!!!!

The reply will be screamed at you as a verbatim mockery, prefaced by "HAI!!!!", minus the kudasai (please).

Then you'll receive something more or less truly perfect. And you'll know that these elderly gentlemen are really, really special. They're so serious. This degree of serious cannot be found elsewhere. This shit is life or fucking death. There is never an offering of a second tier; never the faintest hint of anything short of the paragon of excellence. If cleanliness is godliness then High Japanese Sushi is a legitimate religion.

Aaaaand so I'm vegan. I'm back in the States and I go to sushi restaurants and order med-high priced sake and eat vegan sushi rolls. And I drink and eat a SHIT TON, like I'm a doughy, middle-aged, chauvinistic salary pig wearing a suit costing ¥70,000 who plans on passing out in a weird little mouse hotel rather than going home to his family. In other words, I dream of having an epicurean orgasm marathon with my friends, drinking and eating at least as much as our bodies can tolerate for as long as we can until we're completely unfit to be in public.

That is heaven on earth. If you haven't done that, you can't possibly fathom the true depth of hedonism unless you may have smoked heroin. Then, you maybe might have something going.

Someday, my work may take me back to Japan. And I may be forced to momentarily abandon my moral convictions. If so, I intend to revel so, so deeply that I may never have to revel again. And if I do, I'll be eternally reverent of some remarkable old Japanese man who, through decades of practice and whole hearted devotion, was able to create an experience for me that could never possibly be duplicated.

God bless the sushi chefs. I'm going to see this movie asap.

@1 I think that this was a great review of a movie review. I haven't read the movie review yet but this review convinced me that I'd like it very much. I'm truly a lover of movies.

Eat Drink Man Woman. Babette's Feast. Big Night. Tampopo. It sounds like Jiro might join the company of these hallowed food movies. Can't wait to see it.

Where is it showing?

One week, will it still be around on Tuesday, or should I go tonight?

@4: The Egyptian on Capitol hill.

#2 clever Trevor :)

It's a beautiful movie that drags just a little and uses the latest in fashionable visualization trickery - stop-motion in one aspect, standard motion surrounding the point of focus, etc...

I would have liked a bit more probing regarding the series of events that led to one of his trainees, now in his early sixties, transitioning into his own restaurant.

That said, it's a beautiful film, and a swan song of sorts for the idea of devotion to craft above all else.

@7: I didn't perceive any dragging, but then I was just entranced by the whole thing. There was one point about halfway through when it did occur to me that the film could just stop there and be very good, but then I thought, they haven't talked about RICE yet. And then they also went to the fish market, which was GREAT.

It was my understanding that the trainee went on to open his own place because he was not in line to inherit the head chef position—Jiro's older son is. Seems to me like most apprentices there would go on to work at other places or open their own. I'm guessing the guy they interviewed was the most successful of these.