My first awareness of Brittany Murphy was at her untimely passing. I had seen "Clueless", but really didn't remember it too well. I recently became curious about her and wanted to see something in which she had played the lead. This film was the most positively-rated of her films available on NF streaming at that time. I was somewhat leery - everything about it looked slightly unwatchable, somehow. I had previous positive experience with ramen-centric cinema. As I added "The Ramen Girl" to my NF queue, I fondly recalled one of my all-time very favorites: "Tampopo" (1985). The casting, screenplay, and production values in "The Ramen Girl" are all really very good. What really surprised me is that the film contains an actual connection to Tampopo!
Tampopo has at its core a story that also chronicles ramen apprenticeship. The lead in Tampopo is played by Tsutomu Yamazaki, a trucker who happens upon a widow trying to run her late husband's ramen shop. He is tasked to bring her along to mastery in the art of ramen. Grand adventure ensues. (That is the major thread in the film, there are also a few other stories woven into it about food and the way food sits at the center of our lives...)
In "The Ramen Girl", the Grand Master (of ramen) eventually comes to town. That part is played by none other than Tsutomu Yamazaki!!! This was a wonderful touchstone for me and made "The Ramen Girl" even more enjoyable. Whether or not you enjoyed "The Ramen Girl", if you have not see "Tampopo" please consider it. (Japanese with English subtitles.) It's absolutely glorious in every way!
Tampopo has at its core a story that also chronicles ramen apprenticeship. The lead in Tampopo is played by Tsutomu Yamazaki, a trucker who happens upon a widow trying to run her late husband's ramen shop. He is tasked to bring her along to mastery in the art of ramen. Grand adventure ensues. (That is the major thread in the film, there are also a few other stories woven into it about food and the way food sits at the center of our lives...)
In "The Ramen Girl", the Grand Master (of ramen) eventually comes to town. That part is played by none other than Tsutomu Yamazaki!!! This was a wonderful touchstone for me and made "The Ramen Girl" even more enjoyable. Whether or not you enjoyed "The Ramen Girl", if you have not see "Tampopo" please consider it. (Japanese with English subtitles.) It's absolutely glorious in every way!