Tampopo

"The first Japanese Noodle Western."

1985 1h 55m JA

🙌

7.8

BANGER

🔥

100%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

7.9

IMDB

★7.8TMDB · 460🍅100%Rotten Tomatoes●87Metacritic★7.9IMDB · 24,757

Comedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In this humorous paean to the joys of food, a pair of truck drivers happen onto a decrepit roadside shop selling ramen noodles. The widowed owner, Tampopo, begs them to help her turn her establishment into a paragon of the "art of noodle-soup making". Interspersed are satirical vignettes about the importance of food to different aspects of human life.

“The first Japanese Noodle Western.”

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Cast

Tsutomu Yamazaki
Goro
Nobuko Miyamoto
Tampopo
Ken Watanabe
Gun
Koji Yakusho
White Suit Man
Rikiya Yasuoka
Pisken
Kinzō Sakura
Shohei
Hyōe Enoki
Pisken's Henchman
Gō Awazu
Pisken's Henchman

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jūzō Itami
Writers: Jūzō Itami
Languages: Japanese
Countries: Japan

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

41 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jūzō Itami, shot by Masaki Tamura. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Kunihiko Murai. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Akira Suzuki shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Tsutomu Yamazaki and Nobuko Miyamoto and Ken Watanabe carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The first Japanese Noodle Western.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0092048 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jūzō Itami directs. Masaki Tamura behind the camera. Kunihiko Murai scores. Akira Suzuki cuts. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $1.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
241 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Directed by Jūzō Itami, shot by Masaki Tamura. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Kunihiko Murai. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Akira Suzuki shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Tsutomu Yamazaki and Nobuko Miyamoto and Ken Watanabe carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "The first Japanese Noodle Western.".
8IMDB entry: tt0092048 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 22 themes, including "widow", "restaurant", "business woman", "restaurant owner".
10Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Masaki Tamura
Original score: Kunihiko Murai
Editing: Akira Suzuki
Costume design: Emiko Kogô
Makeup / hair: Midori Konuma
Sound: Kyōji Kōno
Runtime: 115 min · 1h 55m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $1,500,000
Original language: JA
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Tampopo (1985)
Rotten Tomatoes: 100% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 87/100
IMDB rating: 7.9/10 · 24,757 votes
MPAA: Not Rated
US box office: $224,097

Awards

6 wins & 4 nominations total

Also by

Jūzō Itami

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2023-07-17
★ 7/10
Nobuko Miyamoto is the eponymous lady who runs her small noodle bar always with the same regulars and... well it's all just a bit routine. That is until "Gorô" (Tsutomu Yamazaki) and his young sidekick "Gun" (Ken Watanabe) arrive and decide they are going to help her realise her dream to improve her shop. Her emporium also serves as the lynch pin for a few tangential stories that focus around her customers and their need for food - and not only for nourishment, either! My favourite has to be the old woman who insists of squishing the life out of his produce then not buying anything - much to the chagrin of the poor shopkeeper. There is also quite a fun tale of an housewife on her deathbed who rises, just before the end, to cook her family a delicious dinner; and of a gangster - clad in a white suit, who finds quite an erotic way to use his dinner, too. It is funny and quirky, this film, with some really engaging performances and the two hours it takes just flies by.

Production companies