Review of Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011) by Hoops2448 — 25 Aug 2013

According to Jiro Ono, the modest star of Jiro Dreams of Sushi, a great sushi chef must be borderline obsessed or just plain obsessed with his craft to succeed. Clearly filmmaker David Gelb follows the same principals as Jiro Dreams of Sushi is heart warming, informative cinema that demands attention for its keen eye, its views on family, loyalty and devotion and its unrelenting look at a man who has worked almost every day of his life and regrets none of it.

The film tells the story of Jiro and his passion for Sushi, something that has brought him from nothing to having a three star Michellin restaurant and a family whose devotion to this strange yet beautiful craft rivals his own, especially his son Yoshikazu.

Unlike any food documentary you have seen, Jiro Dreams of Sushi doesn't tell a story of how Jiro came to be so knowledgeable in sushi, in fact the documentary only briefly speaks of Jiro's past. The film tells the story from the point of view of Gelb, a fly on the wall but one intent on taking in every little morsel of information.

Gelb however is uninterested in the man Jiro was but the one his is today, 85 years old at the time of filming, Jiro is a modern marvel, a gem of a long forgotten time where devotion wasn't a vice, where hard work and imagination meant more than technology and blind luck.

A film for our time, Jiro and his son are extraordinary people who are worth knowing existed, not only to inspire you but to scare you. Gelb frames this lesson in perfection with subtlety making for a relaxed yet involving viewing experience.

The film packs in so much into its run time that it may feel overstuffed and at times a little preachy but overall I left this cinematic meal very satisfied yet with a hankering for more.