Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)

   I have put off writing this post for literal days.  It has been so hard to really distill my thoughts about this movie, which is odd considering it's a fairly straightforward documentary.

Jiro is 85-years-old and still goes to work at his small sushi restaurant in the subway.  His three-star Michelin rated small sushi restaurant with a month-long waiting list that starts at ~$300/person in the subway.  He maintains the absolute strictest standards in ingredients and preparation from vendors and apprentices alike and embodies the ethos of constant striving towards perfection and mastery of a craft. 

Okay, sounds great.  But what was most interesting to me is the stuff the movie tried not to really touch on.  Like that Jiro was put out of his home by his abusive father at age 7 and told to fend for himself.  Like that he casually mentions how he "allowed" his sons to finish high school before forcing them to apprentice under him.  His oldest son, now in his 50s, dismisses earlier dreams he had of being literally anything but a sushi chef and is now quietly resigned to almost certainly never fully gaining control of the restaurant. 

This is a look into what remains a deeply patriarchal culture and for a quasi-millenial American, it was more of a shock than I was truly comfortable with.  That absolutely has more to do with my own cultural lens and inherent biases but it made it really difficult to focus on the positives (so much dedication! true artist!) of the documentary.  What I was looking forward to was a nice, feel-good documentary about a dude who has devoted his entire life to making raw fish taste fucking delicious.  What I got was "this man exerts iron control over every facet of his life and the lives of those around him with no regard for their hopes or dreams." 

Also I got really sad watching people eat octopi because they are sentient and display complex problem-solving and abstract reasoning so it feels a little more like murder than eating tuna.

It's currently streaming on Netflix and I think also on Hulu.