This weekend marks 40 years since the release of Juzo Itami’s tour de force “Tampopo.” The described the genre-bending, surrealist social satire as a “ramen Western,” placing it in the “spaghetti” lineage of films popularized in the 1960s.
The overarching storyline follows one woman’s quest to open a ramen shop, supported by a misfit cast that ranges from milk truck drivers (including a fresh-faced Ken Watanabe) to local gangsters. Interspersed vignettes explore everything from the idolization of Western culture to food as meditation and outright fetish. Like ramen itself, the film can be enjoyed as deeply or as superficially as you like.
The title role in “Tampopo” was played by Japanese actress Nobuko Miyamoto, then 40. She collaborated with Itami on many films before and after “Tampopo,” including “The Funeral” (1984) and “A Taxing Woman” (1987). Born in Otaru, Hokkaido, Miyamoto was Itami’s second wife; they were married from 1969 until his death in 1997 and had two sons. Now 80, her venerable career continues. Outside of film, she has voiced anime characters and appeared in multiple television series. As the fiery matriarch Taki Tawara in the Toho-Netflix production “House of Ninjas,” she remains a scene stealer.
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