Bowl of Nirvanas
After furiously working through the night, Tompopo was determined to get her soup recipe to perfection, the team finds themselves at the end of their bowls. This scene marks Tompopo’s victory after finally reaching raamen perfection. This shots orientation signifies the importance of each character from left to right. Lastly, this shot conveys some of the functions of food as a culture. Itami Juuzo combines all of the elements of great cinematography in this one shot, which makes it the most important shot of this cinema in conveying his message of food in a culture.
Finally it is time for the team to sit down to what has been building up to be the last stand. A white mist of light surrounds the team. As they slowly tilt their white bowls to the ceiling while reaching the end, the whiteness is enhanced. It’s as if the team entered into a pure white heaven or reached nirvana. There is a catharsis to the this light that marks the exact point where Tompopo transforms into something more, a master.
The orientation of this shot is an eye-level master shot, with the team (minus Tompopo, who stands behind the counter waiting for approval), lined up from left to right. The orientation of the line-up shows the importance of each team member. Goro, who is closest to the camera, is the most important character. Support for this is shown with Goro being largest in size compared to the other’s. This illusion gives an order to the line up. For example, his side kick Gun appears to be slightly smaller than Goro, and so on down the line of importance.
Goro and Gun, a team of truckers, decide to randomly help Tompopo in her endeavor to become a master ramen maker. To the left of Gun, sits master ramen maker. The once restaurant owner turned bum helped to make the broth. To his left, the noodle maker who was taught by an old man on the street, helped with the noodles. At the end of the line sits Pisuken, who at first was a jerk, surprised everyone with his experience as a carpenter. He helps customize the raamen shop to fit a woman. In the end, raamen brought this team together with everyone having contributed individual knowledge to reach perfection. Food has many deep rooted functions in a society. Food brings people from all walks of life together
In this scene, without ever saying anything, the teams approval is known. Their heads tilted back signifies the main goal of the team. That is to reach being perfectly satisfied. Up until this point, that has not been done. A great bowl of raamen almost talks through you, down from your belly. There is nothing like a boiling steamy tasty bowl of raamen. Though Juuzo uses western and Japanese cinematography, it is obvious that his message is simple. People from all walks of life, rich, poor, and everything in between knows exactly the state of mind these men are in. They are experiencing perfect bliss.
food and foodies in japan 