A Tale of Samurai Cooking review: martial arts munchies

If you are eager for an undemanding treat to ease into the year’s trying early weeks, then look no further than this Japanese film dealing with a culinary master from the Edo period.

Yes, Yûzô Asahara’s film delivers on its title. There are no misleading metaphors at work. There is cooking. There are samurai. This really is a film about what gave Kurosawa’s characters such boundless energy.

Haru (Aya Ueto), a spirited young woman recently sent away from an early, unhappy marriage, finds herself serving food for a senior chef from a distinguished household.

He identifies Haru as a culinary genius and encourages a marriage to his son Yasunobu (Kengo Kôra). The lad was set to become a warrior, but, following the death of his elder brother, found himself compelled to become a “kitchen samurai” like his father. Unfortunately, he can’t do whatever the Japanese equivalent is of boiling an egg.

The young couple seem manacled together in misunderstanding and unhappiness, but, after a trying beginning, Haru begins teasing out her husband’s hidden talents and, as his confidence in the kitchen grows, they become ever closer.

Putting nice food on screen is the least demanding way of winning over a hungry audience. Still, it can’t be denied that the film-makers make a fine fist of it. Everything that should glisten glistens. Everything that should crumble crumbles.

All this is shot in a clean light that flatters the cast and is scored to melodies that seem, at times, unexpectedly Celtic. The two main actors are charming enough to inspire longing for the eventual (and inevitable) reconciliation. Tasty.