Jiro Dreams of Sushi

Jiro Dreams of Sushi. And so does Marie.

We were pretty excited to see this flick since we heard about it. It's simply a documentary about the greatest sushi chef in Japan. It focuses on him, his 10-seat restaurant in a subway station, and his two sons who are following in his fishy footsteps.

Jiro is world famous and his tiny little restaurant has a full three star rating from Michelin. If a restaurant is rated that high it is deemed to be so good that it's worth visiting that country JUST to eat there. Plates start at about $300 and you might be done in as little as fifteen minutes. That seems outrageous obviously, but watching this flick gives you and understanding of what that money buys you and once you get that, it doesn't seem like a steep price, to be honest. Being a vegetarian, I'm not stoked on a damn thing Jiro prepares. In fact, the movie is a bummer if you have any compassion for animals. Seeing these massive, incredible tuna all laid out on an auction floor is grotesque and upsetting. But this isn't a morality lesson, it's a fucking movie review so I'm not gonna judge Jiro on his offensively carnivorous predilections. ;)

Anyway.
The dude is humble. He works 24/7. Did I mention he's 85? The dude is incredible. A complete slave to his art. He's given his life to his art. Total sacrifice in the name of innovation and mastery. It's real cool. It's great to see him surround himself with apprentices who aspire to achieve even one tenth of his greatness. The dude is disciplined and knows how to tell it like it is.

I think it was well edited, and the camerawork was fly-on-the-wall when it needed to be but it knew when to take more artistic license, too. A nice visual mix. Very comfortable and intimate look at a master craftsman.

Everyone at the DFT was well-behaved and it was an enjoyable flick. Good times.