Ramen Shop is about a family’s reconciliation in light of troubled Singaporean-Japanese history. Masato (Taikumi Saito) is a young Japanese ramen chef who loses his father; his Singaporean mom had died when he was a young child. He heads to Singapore to probe his family’s past and encounters a smorgasbord of Singaporean cuisine, a helpful and comely food blogger and his relatives – some more welcoming than others.
The first thirty minutes – with the grief of the son, his memories of his saintly mother and the flashbacks of parental romance – are too schmalzy for me. On the other hand, the thread of family turmoil as the legacy of a specific trauma from the Japanese conquest of Singapore works well.
There’s a metaphorical foodie angle here, too, in Masato’s Holy Grail – fusion of Singaporean pork rib soup with Japanese ramen stock. The foodie scenes – especially the food exploration scenes in Singapore – are mouth-watering.
I saw Ramen Shop at the San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM). It opens this week in the Bay Area.
Henry Golding and Constance Wu in CRAZY RICH ASIANS
Crazy Rich Asians is wildly popular for a reason – it’s damn entertaining and probably the year’s most appealing date movie. Nick (the hunky Henry Golding) is getting serious about his New York girlfriend Rachel (Constance Wu) and wants to take her to meet his family in Singapore. Now Rachel, being a beautiful NYU economics professor who is fluent in multiple languages, is just about anybody’s ideal daughter-in-law. What Rachel doesn’t know is that Nick’s family is super, super rich – so rich that their set puts on $40 million weddings. The family matriarch, Nick’s mom Eleanor (Michelle Yeoh – the leading lady in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), is never going to approve Nick marrying an American, even a Chinese-American rock star like Rachel. As the lovers try to win over the formidably stern Eleanor, comic situations ensue. Will love prevail?
As you can tell, this story follows a familiar arc for a romantic comedy, but with an Asian cast, an Asian location and lots of Asian cultural references. But his isn’t a just rom com with a gimmick. Director John M. Chu keeps the pages turning quickly all the way through the two hours running time (a little long for this genre) without any slow spots. The three main characters are surrounded by wacky friends and family, and most of the biggest laughs come from the foibles of the supporting characters.
I saw this film in a heavily Asian audience, and Ken Jeong’s scenes in particular drew howls from the Asian crowd. The rapper Awkwafina, who has gotten good notices for her performance in Oceans Eight, is hilarious as Rachel’s zany friend. We’re going to be seeing a lot more of Awkwafina in the movies; she has Lucille Ball’s lasered-in earnestness.
Awkwafina in CRAZY RICH ASIANS
Michelle Yeoh in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and SK Global Entertainment’s and Starlight Culture’s contemporary romantic comedy CRAZY RICH ASIANS, a Warner Bros. Pictures release.
The Asians in my audience also responded knowingly to the references to Chinese family traditions and parents’ relations to their adult children, much of which is, of course, also universal.
Crazy Rich Asians has some fine set pieces, including an over-the-top wedding where the bridal party wades down a flooded aisle – and a reception so decadent that it makes Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby look Amish. There’s also a mouth-watering street food scene in Singapore.
You’ll laugh, you’ll cry. Here’s the teaser (not the trailer because the trailer gives away two of the most impactful lines).
