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By Blitzwing.

By Gordon Foote.

Jiro Ono is eighty-five.

Every day, he gets up, rides the train to his 10-seat restaurant, situated in a Tokyo basement, and makes sushi.  He has followed this routine, day-in-day-out, since the war.

Jiro makes sushi.

He does not make noodles.
He does not make yakizkana.
He does not make tempura.

He makes sushi. Everyday. In his 10-seat, triple-Michelin star rated restaurant, in a Tokyo basement.

For over half a century, Jiro has given his life to the goal of perfecting sushi making.  His every waking moment and, as the title suggests, many of his sleeping moments, are consumed by the desire, the need even, to improve;  to refine his process yet further to create the perfect flavour.   So sought after are Jiro’s skills that one must book three months in advance for a seat at his restaurant, and the cheapest meal offered costs in the region of ¥30,000(£200).

It is safe to say that the man at the centre of David Gelb’s 2011 documentary is a fascinating figure.  An inspiring man whose dedication and on-going pursuit of quality draw the audience in and keep them gripped for the full 81 minute running time.  Having set foot in a Japanese restaurant only three or four times in my life, and not being a particular fan of sushi, it’s difficult to believe just how absorbed in Jiro’s story I became; agog at the man’s unrelenting attention to detail, watching his constant self-critique and training of his staff (apprenticeships at Jiro’s last for ten years; the first few months of which, you merely wring out hot towels.  Until that skill is mastered, you are not permitted near the food).  It’s bizarre to think that such a one dimensional character, a man completely consumed by his love of sushi, could be so incredibly interesting to watch!

Though the obsession, the passion, is endearing, instilling a sensation of respect and awe, it simultaneously forces one to wondering what he has missed out on while focusing so intently on sushi.  He freely admits that he was not there much for his two sons, describing himself as “…more like a stranger” than a father.   Also, the documentary gives no time at all to the woman behind the man.  Jiro’s wife is conspicuously absent, as are any scenes in, or even references to, his home.  It serves excellently to keep the focus on the food, but does paint a rather sad image of children who could not compete for their father’s affections with raw fish, and a woman who, for all intents and purposes was a single mother; a sushi-widow, as it were.

There are a couple of scenes where Gelb decides to follow Yoshikazu, Jiro’s eldest son, for a short time; one such scene sees him selecting stock from their network of trusted vendors at the fish market.  It is a weird and wonderful scene as we glimpse other people who are totally consumed by their chosen careers, and yet, even then look up to Jiro, always hoping to find that piece of fish which will make them say, “Ah…that is worthy of Jiro”.  The spectacle of a Japanese tuna auction is not to be missed.

Throughout, Jiro Dreams of Sushi is entertaining and well constructed, not over-staying its welcome.  Gelb’s direction pushes the players to the forefront and gives them space to tell their story without competing for the limelight.  Each scene is presented well and timed excellently, never being allowed to grow stale before moving on.  The documentary paints a vivid picture of the life the world’s best sushi chef has made for himself, and the amount of work it takes to get to that level.   He is the best and as, food critic, Masuhiro Yamamoto laments towards the film’s conclusion, “When Jiro retires, or the inevitable happens, Sushi may never reach that level again…”.

4/5

Documentary guru Alex Gibney gives us an very direct insight to the tragic and infuriating world of Catholic priest abuse.

Often when reviewing I write with a fairly sarcastic tone, mostly to amuse me and in the hope that the two of you who read my ramblings might find it entertaining. With a film such as Mea Maxima Culpa, it would seem churlish. I’m sure I won’t be able to resist now and then so let’s see how it goes.

The documentary focuses on four men who attended St. John’s School for the Deaf as boys. Whilst there they were molested by the school’s head teacher who is also a priest. Discussing what happened to them and the steps they took to gain justice the film begins to unravel and display the mass cover ups that go on within the Catholic church to hide these criminals.

On first hearing about Mea Maxima Culpa I wondered about the need for another film investigating abuse in the Catholic church. Over the past two decades it seems we can’t go a handful of months without another horror story of young, vulnerable people being subjected to crimes that would satan weep. Many of these stories have been told to use through feature films, mostly investigative documentaries. It’s hard to disagree with their existence. It’s also hard to watch them. The prospect of seeing another film about priest paedophilia was not one I relished.

Fortunately Alex Gibney is a man who knows the right angles from which to approach a story, he has also brought us some of the most high profile documentary releases of the last ten years; Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Taxi to the Dark Side and We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks. He is incredibly prolific for documentarian but you never feel he is short changing his subjects. With Mea Maxima Culpa he goes so far as to literally give a voice to the four men recounting their stories of abuse. With each man telling his life through sign language, their voices are provided by actors Chris Cooper, John Slattery, Ethan Hawke and Jamey Sheridan. Their line readings add some weight to the stories being conveyed, but it could be argued that essentially “dramatising” these mens words brings the film into borderline ‘docu-drama’. The first half of the film concentrates on the young men as they attempt to tell their neighbourhood about the priest who abused them. As it becomes apparent that they are hitting dead ends the film begins to focus more intently in the Vaticans systematic cover ups and under-the-rug sweeping of criminal priest. It’s here that the film changes from an devastating personal confessional to a political and sociological study of why pedophiles seem to be so prevalent in the cloth. Academics, theologians and journalists make up the majority of talking heads. All seem to be in agreement. Yes, abusing children is bad. These priests are bad. They should be prosecuted. Sick as it may sound I would have like to have seen some deranged souls attempt to defend the actions if only to see what a real cretin looks like.

Despite it being common knowledge that Pope Benedict XVI, whilst still going by the handle Cardinal Ratzinger, was the chief investigator/cover-up-man of alleged abuses within the church. Gibney seems to take delight in detailing the comfortable lives Ratzinger arranged for Priests. We also get to see a rare moment of anger as the future-Pope is blind-sided by a journalist.

The film’s figurative and emotional climax comes when two of the former students of St. John’s track down the Priest who abused them. Living in a lovely situated home in the country the men film themselves as they attempt to confront their former tormentor. The situation manages to dumbfound and infuriate. Which is main emotions you may take away from Mea Maxima Culpa. But after an hour and half of head shaking and fist clenching Gibney allows hope to creep in as we see how the men have progressed with their lives and continue their fight to seek justice against those who wronged them and so many others.

Hopefully some people who believe that this is not a major issue within the Catholic church will see this film and begin to have a good think about their views. There’s a good chance it could happen but also a good chance that this will be merely be preaching to converted. People who are angered by this subject and will continue to be angered until men who hold more power than they should decide to do something good with it and make the moral choices they should find so easy to make.