I have never quite enjoyed cooking. Perhaps my lack of enjoyment stems from a lack of skill (you should see me fry an egg. It’s a circus act). But it’s always invigorating to watch and hear passionate people working and discussing their craft, regardless of craft. I’m one of those guys who could sit and talk for hours to a garbage collector about the wonders of amassing maggot filled filth if the said garbage collector is passionate enough. Ramen Heads is a fascinating look at the world of Ramen, where what most of us might consider as a simple and mundane act of preparing Japanese noodles, is seen as the most intricate of art forms by its fervent practitioners.
Koki Shigeno’s documentary centres around Osamu Tomita, one of the most acclaimed Ramen chefs in all of Japan. It’s in his restaurant — small, squeezy, old-fashioned and exactly the kind of diner you know serves great food — where a majority of this film takes place. Here we see Tomita boil his thick, murky broth (not the kind you’ll usually associate with Ramen), prepare his noodles and yell at his employees when they mess up the tiniest of details. When I say yell, I mean sternly but politely tells them off — who are we kidding, it’s Japan. “It comes down to the split seconds,” Tomita says. “Boil it a second longer and it all goes to shit.”
To Tomita and some of the other chefs we’re introduced to in this documentary, Ramen is religion. They live and breathe it. To drive the message home, director Koki Shigeno includes slow-motion footage of broth broiling and pot-stirring, accompanied by classical music. But what I found most interesting was the hundreds of people queuing outside Tomita’s shop, sometimes from 4.30 in the morning, many hailing from different parts of Japan, just to get a taste of his mouth-watering delicacy. Passionate fans fascinate me just as much as the art form they’re passionate about. I’ll never do it for food (or sneakers or music), regardless of how revered it is, but I get it. I’m one of those nutjobs who will queue up for 12 hours just to get the opening night ticket to a Star Wars or Rajinikanth movie. Ramen Heads offers peeks at the world of Ramen arts, all of it interesting, a lot of it insightful.
Why then is this documentary also somewhat forgettable? At first, I wondered if it could be the subject matter. A thought, I quickly brushed off, because as I said, I love watching passionate people work their craft. Also because I f*cking love Jon Favreau’s Chef. It boils down to the storytelling. What separates Ramen Heads from the great documentary films — Beyond the Mat (pro-wrestling) and Free to Play (Dota 2) — are my two personal favourites, is the narrative flow. Or in the case of Ramen Heads, the lack thereof. This documentary is a compilation of clips strung together without any emotional depth or weight brimming beneath it.
We’re told that Ramen is an art form. We see it, but we don’t feel it in our bones. There wasn’t a single moment throughout the documentary where I felt Tomita’s struggles, suffering or joy. There is no pain, no euphoria. There’s nothing in it that will move you. In Beyond the Mat we see the carnage the wrestlers put their bodies through and we feel their addiction. We understand why, despite the dislocated shoulders, broken teeth and concussions, they want to, nay, HAVE TO do it. In other words, we FEEL how much wrestling means to them. In Free to Play we explore in-depth, the players’ frustration both at the game and their parents. Their parents who do not support their passion and ambition to be the best Dota player in the world. Ostracized by their families, these players continue to play, because Dota is their life.
Ramen Heads offers none of that. It’s severely lacking in complexities and nuance as far as “characters” are concerned. No struggles, nor sacrifices. No broken families and wives leaving husbands because of their Ramen addiction. It doesn’t tell a very memorable story nor does it move you emotionally, not even a little bit. But watching Osamu Tomita’s little son earnestly say he wishes to one day be a Ramen Chef just like his father is a delight nonetheless.
**Scroll down to see my rating.
Wanna catch the premiere screening of Ramen Heads?
Venue: GSC 1-Utama
Date: September 4 2018 (Tuesday)
Time: 8.45pm
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Ramen Heads is part of the Japanese Film Festival 2018, which will be held at selected GSC cinemas (Mid Valley Megamall, Pavilion KL, 1 Utama, Gurney Plaza Penang and Paradigm JB) from the 6th of September to the 7th of October 2018. For more information regarding the GSC Japanese Film Festival, click here.
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