Directed by:
Jūzō ItamiScreenplay:
Jūzō ItamiCinematography:
Masaki TamuraComposer:
Kunihiko MuraiCast:
Tsutomu Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamoto, Ken Watanabe, Kōji Yakusho, Ryutaro Otomo, Hisashi Igawa, Mariko Okada, 橋爪功, 津川雅彦, Chôei Takahashi, 洞口依子, 大滝秀治, 加藤嘉, 原泉, 池内万平, 高木均 (more)Plots(1)
The sophomore directorial effort from ill-fated Japanese filmmaker Juzo Itami, Tampopo is an off-beat comedy featuring several intersecting stories all related to food. Tsutomu Yamazaki plays Goro, a truck driver who helps a young widow named Tampopo (Nobuko Miyamoto) improve her noodle restaurant. Over the course of the film, the story drifts around, not only following the stories of Tampopo, her son, and Goro, but also a number of customers who come through the diner, including an old woman (Izumi Hara) who insists on squeezing the cheese at a market and a criminal (Ken Watanabe) with a food-based kink. Tampopo was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the 1988 Independent Spirit Awards. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Tsutomu Yamazaki
Japan
Best movies:
High and Low (1963)
Red Beard (1965)
Departures (2008)
Nobuko Miyamoto
Japan
Best movies:
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013)
Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald (1997)
Dandelion (1985)
Ken Watanabe
Japan
Best movies:
Inception (2010)
Batman Begins (2005)
The Last Samurai (2003)
Kōji Yakusho
Japan
Best movies:
University of Laughs (2004)
Eureka (2000)
I Just Didn't Do It (2006)
Ryutaro Otomo
Japan
Best movies:
The Christian Lord (1962)
Castle of Owls (1963)
Eleven Samurai (1966)
Hisashi Igawa
Best movies:
Japan's Longest Day (1967)
Harakiri (1962)
After the Rain (1999)
Mariko Okada
Japan
Best movies:
A Story Written with Water (1965)
Late Autumn (1960)
Samurai III: Duel on Ganryu Island (1956)
橋爪功
Japan
Best movies:
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013)
Under the Open Sky (2020)
Tokyo Family (2013)
津川雅彦
Japan
Best movies:
The Boy and the Beast (2015)
Heaven and Earth (1990)
Dandelion (1985)
Chôei Takahashi
Japan
Best movies:
I Just Didn't Do It (2006)
Dandelion (1985)
Hačikó monogatari (1987)
洞口依子
Japan
Best movies:
Love Exposure (2008)
Swallowtail & Butterfly (1996)
Dandelion (1985)
大滝秀治
Japan
Best movies:
Our Mother (2008)
Memories of Tomorrow (2006)
Zatoichi in Desperation (1972)
加藤嘉
Japan
Best movies:
Bushido, Samurai Saga (1963)
Immortal Love (1961)
A Fugitive from the Past (1965)
原泉
Japan
Best movies:
池内万平
Japan
Best movies:
Dandelion (1985)
The Funeral (1984)
高木均
Japan
Best movies:
My Neighbour Totoro (1988)
Throne of Blood (1957)
Hanzo The Razor 2: The Snare (1973)
Rikiya Yasuoka
Italy
Best movies:
Shintaro Katsu's Zatoichi (1989)
Tokyo Pop (1988)
Violent Streets (1974)
Satoši Hasegawa
Japan
Best movies:
Dandelion (1985)
Akira Kubo
Japan
Best movies:
The Castle of Sand (1974)
Dandelion (1985)
Getting Any? (1994)