Perfection on a plate comes at a cost

I don’t eat sushi. I don’t even eat fish that much. This does not mean I’m not interested in the culinary phenomenon from the East. My un-indoctrinated view of sushi is that it’s more than food, it’s an art form. I can picture delicately sliced salmon draped over steamed rice and lightly drizzled with a succulent and spicy wasabi sauce. This small bit of gastronomical art is arranged on a stark black plate, providing vibrant contrast and making the dish itself a dream of design and composition. In my mind’s eye it’s beautiful, but I’m just not sure if it’s food.

85-year old Jiro Ono would probably agree with me. Ono, the subject of 2011’s “Jiro Dreams of Sushi”, would say sushi is not food, it’s his entire life.

The documentary presents Jiro Ono’s story from a childhood in poverty to a Michelin starred chef charging $300 a plate in his tiny yet exclusive Tokyo restaurant. The story of his two sons, doomed to live in their father’s shadow is also told along side that of the patriarch. Takashi Ono, the youngest son, has branched out and has created his own sushi restaurant, and exact mirror of his fathers, while Yoshikazu Ono, the eldest remains at his father’s side. Eventually Yoshikazu will take up his father’s position, but will he be good enough?

“Jiro Dreams of Sushi” is not a film about the history of sushi, nor does it doddle on the procedures and techniques involved. It’s a film about one man’s near obsession and his life’s work. It’s a film about desire for perfection and the joy one finds when they’ve discovered what they were put on this earth to do. As the title suggests, Jiro literally dreams of sushi. His days are an orchestrated and ordered duplicate of each day that came before. Every moment is dedicated to creating order and the best plate of sushi available. Jiro Ono says he does not take holidays. All he wants is to create sushi and strive for perfection. It could be easy to see the man’s journey as one of sacrifice. He’s clearly given up everything in order to create the finest sushi available.

However, we see the sacrifice is not Jiro’s to make. His sons explain as children they hardly knew their father. He was a stranger in their house. They each try to match the perfection of their father and know that there is a world of pressure on them to do more than that. It becomes evident that Jiro’s sons made the sacrifice. They had to lose a father in order for him to see his dreams come true.

What is amazing is Jiro and his sons realize this, but they accept it. There is definitely a cultural divide presented in the film. One that fascinates while it saddens me. I cannot judge that Jiro is wrong in his ways, only that I’d never give up knowing my children for perfection in any given field. This also means I’ll probably not be able to serve food for $300 a plate. I hope my kids will understand.

“Jiro Dreams of Sushi” suffers mildly in its storytelling however. There’s a lack of urgency in the story. At times it feels a little too much like “a day in the life” and not part of a greater story. What the film lacks in narrative focus it makes up for in the way it’s filmed.

This quietly emotional tale is told in beautiful camera movements that capture the simple and elegant beauty of Jiro’s life. From blonde polished hardwood counter tops to the contrasting square black plates each scene is a minimalist’s painting of strictly ordered perfection. The world outside of Jiro’s restaurant is grey and chaotic, perhaps even cold. It’s a striking juxtaposition that makes Jiro’s work shine out that much more.

In 2007 director Gary Hustwit made a documentary called “Helvetica” about the font of the same name. Much goes into that film about the casual simplicity of this ubiquitous font, about the typeface’s importance and perfection in all its uses across continents. What “Helvetica” didn’t quite show was examples of how the simple and mundane could be elevated to the penultimate of artistic design. “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” does just that surprisingly not only with the sushi at the heart of the film but with the font Helvetica itself. The typeface is used everywhere from subtitles to graceful captions hovering over plates of octopus tentacles and eel.

This is Jiro’s story and his family’s story, and the artistic sushi creations do not detract or distract from the narrative, they provide beautiful punctuation. It’s a film about perfection and unattainable goals, about hard work and yes a little sacrifice. It’s a film about one man’s dreams and the pebble-in-water ripple effects those dreams have on all that surrounds him.

I don’t eat sushi, but this film makes me want to give it a try.

3 out of 5 things I may or may not eat sometime

Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)

Director: David Gelb

Stars: Jiro Ono and Yoshikazu Ono

Runtime 81 minutes

Rated PG for mild thematic elements and brief smoking