What is jimami tofu? It’s a type of Japanese peanut tofu.
As you might expect, “Jimami Tofu” centres around Japanese food. It’s romantic drama about a chef who loses and regains his zest for cooking through heartbreak and love. It tells two tales, one in a small town and one in a metropolis, and how the appreciation of good food goes beyond that of taste and smell.
There’s no doubting the sheer enthusiasm that the filmmakers approach “Jimami Tofu” with. The debut feature film from BananaMana Films tries to pack as much as possible into its 121-minute runtime, whether it be plot or visuals. You can almost feel the editor’s pain as you realise how much material must have been left on the cutting room floor.
Narrative voiceovers help to piece everything together and give us an insight into how Ryan (Jason Chan) thinks. He make some strange choices in the course of the film, but perhaps there’s more context and background behind his decisions. Nevertheless, you understand the motives of most of the main characters, and their personalities are fairly well-defined.
The film is a character-driven piece – which means that the focus on food is not as strong as you might expect. Unlike most food dramas that feature many glamour shots of their chef’s signature dishes, closeups of the food are reserved for the finale, when the characters truly understand what it means to appreciate Okinawan cuisine. It does have the odd side effect of leaving audiences uncertain as to the taste of Okinawan food and what makes it so special.
There are some overtones of discrimination in the film, which is an insightful nod to the increasing globalisation of food preparation and the slightly insular attitudes that many Asian cultures have to overseas visitors. It’s one of the more engaging aspects of the film, and should have been explored in a greater depth.
The dialogue could be sharpened a little, with a number of on-the-nose lines. The romanticisation of cooking also means that you get the occasional corny utterance that’s all part of the genre, although there are some quips.
The biggest mystery, though, is how the characters are all connected and how fate has placed them in such circumstances. You could chalk it up to serendipity, which is certainly one of the themes of the film. But for the more analytical and cold-hearted ones among us, additional exposition could have helped justify the surprising relationships between the characters.
“Jimami Tofu” is an admirable debut feature film that draws attention to Okinawa and their neighbourly culture. While I personally dislike tofu, the movie made me interested in finding out more about its tempura (it’s the other key dish in the story) and small, family-run restaurants.
Should you watch this at weekend movie ticket prices? Nah.
Should you watch this at weekday movie ticket prices? Ok.
Score: 2.5/5
Secret ending? No.
Running time: 121 minutes (~2 hours)
“Jimami Tofu” is a romantic food drama that centres around a Singaporean chef in Okinawa.
The film is directed and written by Jason Chan and Christian Lee. It stars Jason Chan (Ryan), Mari Yamamoto (Yuki), Rino Nakasone (Nami), Masane Tsukayama (Sakumoto), and Christian Lee (Marcus). It is rated PG.
“Jimami Tofu” opens in cinemas:
– 28 March, 2018 (Singapore)
This is an original article on marcusgohmarcusgoh.com
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I’m a Singapore television scriptwriter who’s written for Lion Mums, Crimewatch, Police & Thief, and Incredible Tales. I’m also a Transformers enthusiast and avid pop culture scholar. You can find me on social media as Optimarcus and on my site.
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