All of Japan is in this film and in the centre of it is food and in the centre of food is ramen. It never looked as tasty as here and you'll definitely be wanting a bowl for yourself. The story about Tampopo is in the centre of this film, but there are many other ones, each of them is connected to food in one way or another and depicts its subject in a different way. It can be just as tasty or absolutely disgusting. The film never takes itself serious and even the soundtrack sometimes gets extremely wacky, hence the "noodle western" nickname.

From the very first scene Tsutomu Yamazaki establishes himself as a big deal and even though he is just a regular truck driver, we see him as an authority figure. It absolutely does not matter what others think, because he is the main critic. I liked how different he and Ken Watanabe are as it's not only the age, but many other different things. Nobuko Miyamoto is extremely enjoyable to look at throughout the film as we see the progression of her character. Yoshi Katō and Rikiya Yasuoka are also amazing in their supporting roles.

While I was watching Tampopo, I undestood why I love cinema so much. There's only so many themes you can put into film, but Juzo Itami managed to put everything in it. All these shorts throughout the main story reflect different cultural peculiarities and some of the modern problems not only of Japan, but of the entire world. Food is only a small link connecting one story to another, but it's so masterfully done that I can only applause to the crew, because it made me hungry as hell.

10/10