Movie Review: In Jiro Dreams of Sushi, We Are Not What We Eat ...

Down the stairs of what looks like a subway entrance, under the streets of Tokyo, 84-year-old chef Jiro Ono runs a small Sushi restaurant ? one bar, less than a dozen seats ? that is considered one of the best restaurants in the world. With a three-star Michelin rating and reservations sometimes made up to a year in advance, Jiro and his eldest son Yoshikazu oversee a staff of four, creating meticulously orchestrated meals. David Gelb?s documentary, Jiro Dreams of Sushi, is a biography of the chef, but also something else, an intimate look at the nature of craft and perfection, and a view into a way of life that by today?s standards feels very radical because of its respect and esteem for the purifying value of tradition.

Gelb follows a few storylines to bring us into Jiro?s life and life?s work. We see the painstaking effort and very high standards Jiro holds himself and his apprentices to in preparing the food. We follow Yochikazu to the fish market, and learn about how they source their product, relying on long-term relationships with specialty fish dealers. We hear from the apprentices, who spend 10 years learning from Jiro; they must absolutely perfect simple dishes ? rice, egg sushi ? sometimes repeating recipes hundreds of times before they are allowed to serve their creations.

But Jiro Dreams of Sushi is more than a Food Network episode, because its central concern is the relationship between Jiro and his son, Yochikazu. There is a tension between the father and son because in Japan, tradition says the eldest son takes over his father?s craft. But because of Jiro?s unrelenting work ethic and his longevity, Yochikazu is growing older, finding himself something of a sushi prince. Even when he eventually succeeds his father, the elder?s reputation will forever eclipse his own.

Through the relationship between Jiro and Yochikazu we learn the values that fuel the family?s approach to their craft. It is a vision of a life lived not in anticipation or longing for leisure or pleasure, but whose very meaning is found in the endless effort to perfect one?s work. The Japanese values of tradition and paternal fidelity, often misconstrued and criticized in our liberty-infatuated society, are here seen rooted to the mystery of what comprises a well-lived life. Jiro?s life, like his sushi, is quiet, considered, and beautiful.

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