“Always
look ahead and above yourself. Always try to improve on yourself. Always strive
to elevate your craft. That’s what he taught me.” – Yoshikazu Ono (Jiro’s elder
son)
Before the weeklong web fasting we did, I
listed several movies I planned to catch over the short vacation. First on my
list was David Gelb’s documentary on the life of world-acclaimed sushi chef,
Jiro Ono. It was one of 2012’s highest rated documentaries, at least according
to Rotten Tomatoes’ and IMDB’s movie meters. Curiosity won over, so I
downloaded a copy and passed it on to officemates. Kuya Paulie watched it
before I got the time and he said it was good. Here’s what I thought:
The whole documentary was visually pleasing
and vividly entertaining. Various kinds of sushi were shown in between
interviews—there’s the usual tuna meat on top of the sticky rice and then of
course, all the other sushi permutations it could take. There’s shrimp, octopus
and egg. Yes, egg. Egg sushi. It looks like a Japanese cake except that it’s
square. Even the footages taken in the fish market was just so nice. You could
see life teeming from all those fresh sea catches. I was glued to the screen
the whole time.
One thing we also get to see in the movie was
Jiro’s relationship with his two sons, the elder is his top apprentice while
the younger decided to open his own sushi restaurant somewhere in downtown
Tokyo. I always thought Jiro’s younger son was more privileged because he got
the chance to break away from his father’s shadow to open up his own restaurant.
The documentary explained that in Japan, elder sons are expected to take over
the business once their father retires or dies. The achievements and accolades
received by his father raises the standard for their restaurant. If the elder
son fails to exceed those expectations or even manage to live up to it, it
might signal the decline of Jiro’s wonderful sushi legacy. I guess the elder
guy wouldn’t put to waste that legacy. Throughout, we see Jiro’s elder son showing
exceptional sushi-making skills but well, Jiro is not yet willing to retire. The
son has to wait. The other one has to make good of what he learned from his
father.
One can’t help but wonder how the 85-year old
Jiro never gets tired of creating and inventing new sushis? His elderly looks
betray the childlike wonder he exudes whenever he gets his hands on the fish
meat slices and newly-cooked rice. What I liked most about him, aside from his
energy, was his dedication for his craft. He considers sushi-making not just
his bread and butter, it’s his passion to create something wonderful out of
something. Before the sushi snack filled the streets of Japan, the meat and fat
coming from tuna fishes weren’t much of a fare. And then, a revolutionary idea brought
this once obscure fish onto the top of the fish food chain. Jiro added
celebrity status to this famous Japanese food. Despite his restaurant’s humble
exterior plus being located in one of Tokyo’s subway stations, it was awarded
three stars by Michelin. People who would want a taste of Jiro’s sushi
masterpiece would have to book a year ahead to get one of those ten seats.
Worthy of your bucket list, no? Yes, it is! So much for dreaming.
5
out of 5.
Labels: 2013, 22, documentary, foodie, japanese food, jiro dreams of sushi, movie review, sushi