Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsIt's not about sushi
Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2012
Some movies conduct business on more than one level. For example, "Groundhog Day" is seen by most as a cute 7-star comedy as indicated by the majority of comments I ever hear about it. But there is also a minority, myself included, who see it more as a film about philosophy that explores interesting "what if" questions, like what if you had forever to turn yourself into anything you could possibly imagine? I don't know which was the filmmaker's intent, but that is what I have taken away from the first time I saw it, and what has been reinforced over the dozens of times I have watched it since. In the same light, there are many who will see "Jiro Dreams of Sushi" and conclude it is another long-hair art-house documentary about sushi. Again, there is a minority that instead will believe what they have seen is a privileged glimpse into an exceedingly rare level of excellence... and passionate unwavering dedication... and scholarship... and the extraordinary work that can be accomplished by relentless consideration of what you do and how you do it. Like Groundhog Day, I see JDOS as being much more about philosophy than being about just what the camera happens to be pointed at while the ideas are being explored, and that it succeeds so perfectly on this higher level, that I must conclude that the latter was the filmmaker's intent from the start.
Jiro is an 85 year old man who has been a sushi chef since he was a young apprentice. He operates a very small but world-renown sushi restaurant in the Ginza section of Tokyo. The film attempts, successfully I think, to give you an idea of how Jiro's craft evolved to where it is today... not so much by showing you a digest of his accumulated methods that comprise what might be called his mastery, but by exploring how he thinks about it and how that differs from the way the rest of would. The films reveals a singular, all-encompassing dedication to the perfection of his craft that is simply awe-inspiring and will quickly cause any Jesuit to feel like a slacker. It reveals a practitioner who has personally transcended the superlatives, acknowledgements and awards though he has been declared a Living Treasure of Japan and holds a highest possible Michelin rating of three stars, among many other honors. It reveals a man that continues to work to understand and achieve perfection with every tiny act. JDOS is about the pursuit of excellence... not about how to make sushi.
The nature of excellence, as well as the tools to understand, recognize, and cultivate it have been increasingly at the core of my own philosophical interests over the last decade or so. For example, seeing the commonalities in how a Julliard musical prodigy and a world-class police motorcycle rider.. or the world's greatest sushi chef.. think about and pursue advancing their respective crafts is fascinating on its own, but also I think, instructive in improving at my own pursuits. Anders Ericson's work on giftedness and expert performance, echoed into the mainstream in Malcolm Gladwell's "10,0000-hour rule" for world-class expertise in "Outliers", is a connection I think some will make to JDOS. The research indicates that most world-class practitioners, from Olympic athletes to leading neurosurgeons to everything else strongly tend to have at least 10,000 hours of hard practice behind them. Like the sign just before you board many amusement rides, It takes this much to be "world class".
While such people are both rare and extraordinary in what they have achieved, as I get older, the idea of what 25,000 or 50,000-hour expertise can yeild and where it may be found is even more riveting. Simple math, and the underlying story from JDOS lead me to conclude Jiro can correctly be considered to be at least a 50,000-hour practitioner... beyond "merely" meeting the definition of world-class, and I stand in total awe. In Groundhog Day, the circumstances of Phil Connors life... repeating the opportunity to further refine who he was.. ultimately yielded an unimaginable ability to contribute to the day in which he was stuck. It all came from the evolution of his point of view over an unknown but very, very long period of time... at least decades, maybe thousands of years...who knows? I think Jiro is as close to a real-world Phil Connors as I will ever know of, and that is meant in the best possible sense. I want to know more.
Because of this, I feel this film has value beyond "just entertainment" or art. I don't think an everyday outsider can truly see a craft the way a dedicated practitioner sees it, or even how to move toward it if they are interested. But they can get little insights.. glimpses... clues... behaviors... points of view... standards... confirmation that they do think about their work differently, and maybe even show you a little of the flavor of some of those differences. A real-life, late-stage Phil Connors would be an amazing advancement of uncommon high-road post-Jesuit human pursuit... an invaluable example for some people to understand if they existed beyond the realm of the thought experiment. I feel this film documents that point of "what is possible" and a little of how it's possible, from which those who are inclined toward excellence can experience that truly invaluable take-away. The effect 90 minutes of exposure to Jiro's belief system could be at least called usable encouragement, and quite possibly mentoring.
Having said this, JDOS also works as a film... I never noticed the movie-making decisions/execution, or the selection of content or the pacing. I just noticed Jiro's philosophy, and for that, I must give enormous credit to the film maker. He got out of the way completely and let Jiro and his philosophy exist without the distraction of film-making. I can only imagine how James Cameron would completely and thoroughly butcher the subject.
Before I saw "Jiro Dreams of Sushi", 5 of the 630 movies I have rated carried 10 stars. Now there are 6. I have always held a special reverence for "On Any Sunday"... I consider it to be the most important film I had seen in my first 50 years for the extraordinary gift of a life-long passion it bestowed upon me. I live a richer life everyday because I saw it. Again, I am fortunate to have encountered a film that can affect my life at that level... I think Jiro is the most important film I've ever seen since OAS in 1971 because of how it it clarifies and reinforces some of the most important philosophies and ethics I hold. It's not for everyone, but for some, it will be amazing.
