Generally speaking, I think the best type of documentaries are the ones that take you by surprise simply because you do not know anything about the subject. Just look at my favorite documentary of the past couple of years-Bill Cunningham New York. This film was about a New York photographer of whom I knew nothing about. It succeeded due to the fact that I was engaged throughout as the process of me learning about him went on and on. The newest documentary, a Japanese film named Jiro Dreams Of Sushi also succeeds in this category. It follows 85 year old sushi maker Jiro who, despite many opportunities to retire has not. This is due to the fact that Jiro loves the craft of making sushi. He loves every little detail of it as he does it.
By far the most interesting thing about the film is the fact that Jiro, despite having no real secret on making sushi, makes an incomparable piece of sushi. He is much like Gary Dahl, the inventor of the pet rock. By this I mean that both have a simple talent but both seem to have taken that talent to new levels. While the pet rock was a nothing idea, Dahl become a millionaire. Similarly, while Jiro's sushi is not an incredibly difficult thing to make, he makes it his own. There are so many interesting things in this film that this review might benefit from me making a list of the fascinations to be had in this film. In actuality, however, that would take away from the magic of watching this film. I knew nothing about Jiro walking into the film, and now I want to know much more about him. This brings me to my only complaint, or compliment whichever way you want to look at it. I wish the film was longer. The film got me so interested that I wanted to hear more about Jiro's passion, more about his way of doing things. As the credits were rolling, I was wondering....why did it have to end so soon?
Jiro is an interesting and sweet man. Therefore, we are interested and charmed by his attitude and daily routines. In the film, they explain how Jiro has a daily routine, even down to the fact that he waits for the train at the same spot daily. We cannot compare ourselves to Jiro due to the fact that we know how fascinating he is, even if he does do what we do everyday, such as going to work, eating, ETC. Jiro is interesting because he does all this with such passion, and we cannot say we are as passionate about sushi as he is. Sure, I'm extremely passionate about film, but Jiro works day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute doing what he loves, and that's an accomplishment in its own right.
(4 and 1/2 Stars, The film is rated PG for mild thematic elements and brief smoking)
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