Disclaimer and clarification:
- While I like the "Kodoku no Gurume" drama series and have read and do own the Japanese version of the manga, I haven't actually finished watching all seasons of the drama version. As such, while I have watched up to Season 2, my review is primarily centered on the movie and just have a few references from the drama based on what I know so far.
- During the Singapore premiere of this movie, the host of the Q & A session said that there were 10 seasons of the drama series. Strictly speaking, this is not accurate because there were actually 2 seasons in 2022 and 2023 which were streamed exclusively on Paravi, Hikari TV and Lemino. In addition, there was a special edition titled "Sorezore no Kodoku no Gurume" shown last year to commemorate TV Tokyo's 60th anniversary. If these three are also taken into consideration, the entire "Kodoku no Gurume" series should have 13 seasons in total.
For those who are not aware of or unfamiliar with the "Kodoku no Gurume" series, one concern that you might have is whether you can still enjoy this movie without this prior knowledge. Based on what my companion who attended the premiere with me said, that wasn't an issue since the movie had an easy-to-follow plot. This being said though, if you are aware of some of the things which went on in the past or have some idea of who Inogashira Goro is, it might help you to enjoy this movie a bit more.
To begin with, you might be wondering why the title of this movie is "Gekieiga" (劇映画) rather than "Gekijouban" (劇場版) which we tend to see in movie versions of drama series, novels, manga or anime. Both terms actually mean the same thing i.e. full-length feature films which are shown in cinemas. However, there is a difference in the usage of these terms and nuances surrounding them. Gekieiga usually refers to feature films where actors act in fictional stories. However, feature films which are non-fiction in nature and do not feature people's acting are classified under genres such as documentaries and cultural films. On the other hand, the term "gekijouban" tends to be used for remakes or re-edits of audio-visual works like anime and TV dramas or works and places a stronger emphasis on the original work which the movie is based on.
As such, based on the term "gekieiga" used in the title of this movie, it gives you an idea that most, if not all movie-goers, regardless of whether you have read the manga or watched the drama before, should be able to enjoy it as a standalone movie. If it was termed as "gekijouban", chances are, you would need some prior knowledge to make sense of the story. In fact, Matsushige himself chose the term "gekieiga" to signify that the movie is not merely an extension of the drama series and is a standalone feature film.
In a nutshell, the movie describes how Inogashira Goro (Matsushige Yutaka) embarks on a journey to various places to find the ingredients needed to make a legendary soup called "Icchan-jiru" as requested by the elderly father of his ex-girlfriend Sayuki. This is where I thought that knowing who Sayuki was would make a bit more sense to those who might wonder why Goro had to accept this request and go to such great lengths to fulfill this mission. In the movie itself, it doesn't really say clearly who Sayuki was other than hinting that she used to be a longtime acquaintance of Goro and she had asked her daughter Matsuo Chiaki (An) to look for Goro in case she needed help in future.
From this point onwards, if you do not wish to read spoilers about this movie, please skip the portion below and return only when you have watched the film!
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Despite the fact that the story was pretty straightforward, I felt that it was pretty well-structured and didn't feel like a prolonged version of the drama's episodes. While some settings may seem ludicrous or simply too good to be true and the shifting between arcs was a bit abrupt at times, I think that the movie turned out to be better than I thought in terms of the story. I was quite concerned initially as to whether the eating and visiting of restaurants alone would be sufficient to shore up a full-length feature film but thankfully, my worries were unfounded.
One thing which kind of bothered me was Goro's "drift" from Goto Islands in Nagasaki (the red circle in the Google Maps screenshot above) to some remote island in between that and Gujora in Geoje, South Korea (the red marker on the map). While I may not be that familiar with South Korean geography, I roughly remember where Geoje is based on my years of watching 2 Days 1 Night. Somehow, I had the impression that Goto Islands and Geoje are so far apart that it didn't seem logical for Goro to be swept towards there and survived in one piece. Looking at it on Google Maps sort of confirmed my hunch that it seemed way too wide with hardly any island between both places other than Tsushima and Jeju. Of course, given that the movie did not specify where exactly the remote island is (could have been much closer to Goto Islands than Geoje) and how long it took to travel from the island to Geoje when Daniel sent Goro there, I have to give the benefit of the doubt to the movie and assume that the scenario Goro was in could be remotely realistic.
I must say, Goro (Matsushige) doing what he excels in i.e. making solo eating look like such a relishing and gratifying experience was definitely the highlight of this movie. My viewing companion commented how good he looked when eating and making everything look so delicious so I guess this speaks volumes of Matsushige's success in bringing Goro to life and being able to win over first-time viewers of this series through this movie. Be warned though, don't watch this on an empty stomach because you might feel so hungry and craving for food while watching the movie. Truth be told, I was feeling peckish after watching this but had to suppress my urge for supper since it was already quite late at night by then.
One thing I wanted to highlight is the guest lineup for this movie. In many cases, the cast and staff credits tend to appear towards the end of the film so that there is a surprise element for the audience to see unexpected stars appear as guests. However, this movie laid out its "cards" from the start and I was especially excited to see Odagiri Jo's name on screen. Prior to watching this movie, I only knew about An, Isomura Hayato and Endo Kenichi's guest appearances so Odagiri turned out to be a nice bonus for me. Too bad that he and Uchida Yuki didn't have any scenes together despite playing a married couple who were taking some time off each other due to some issues. Special mention also goes to the actor playing Daniel who definitely made a strong impression on screen.
Endo's portrayal of Matsushige himself in the movie really cracked me up because he nailed the key characteristics of Goro and Matsushige and this was especially meaningful considering that they are good friends in real life. Oh, and the token of appreciation which Goro was given for appearing as an extra in "Kodoku no Gurume" which was filmed at Sincerite - that might not have meant much to those who didn't know. However, that pen with the banana character is actually the mascot of TV Tokyo i.e. the TV station that spotted a gem in "Kodoku no Gurume" and took a risk to make the drama series despite the skepticism over its commercial viability back then.
Yoo Jae-myung's special appearance in the Korean arc cracked me up as his character and Goro were communicating in a mix of English, Japanese and Korean as well as body language. I would have loved to see more of Yoo though since he's one of my favourite Korean actors but I guess, it's better than nothing.
Considering that the movie seems targeted at an international audience, I thought that the subtitles left much to be desired. To begin with, there were chunks of dialogue which did not get translated for whatever reason e.g. some of Goro's monologues and the Korean parts from Yoo. I don't know if the subtitles have the same issue for all versions circulated outside of Japan but if the assumption is that a language is common knowledge in that country and you omit those lines on purpose e.g. English in Singapore or Chinese in Hong Kong or Taiwan, I feel that this defeats the aim of having subtitles in the first place.
While the intention of having subtitles may be primarily to translate foreign language lines, there are also other uses for them such as those who can understand the spoken language but the diction or audio is not clear enough to be understood. And for those who have hearing difficulties, these subtitles allow them to enjoy the film as well. As such, I would have expected more care and effort in making sure everything gets translated. In addition, having translations alone is not good enough because you do need to get it correct. Even with my limited Korean proficiency, I could pick out some inaccurate or slightly off translations in the subtitles so this problem definitely did not help in the understanding of what was spoken.
And probably because this movie showcases a variety of foods from different countries, I felt that the Japanese influence of the movie was comparatively weaker than that of the original drama series. I get it that the nature of the story this time required the inclusion of non-Japanese dishes but it would be nice to have a film next time with a stronger Japanese angle beyond the usual things we already know.
This time, there is a new theme song by THE CRO-MAGNONS titled "Kuufuku to Ore" (空腹と俺) which literally means "an empty stomach and me". While I missed hearing the signature Goro tune from the drama series, I get it that the movie needs to distinguish itself from that so that explains a different theme song. Nonetheless, it would have been better if the lyrics of the song were translated so that non-Japanese speakers can get the fun and relevance of these with the theme of the movie or Goro's universe as a whole. For those who are interested, you can hear the song and view the lyrics
here.
Last but not least, do keep a lookout for the little quirky things onscreen which probably make a bit more sense if you already are familiar with the series or know the Japanese language. For example, the license plate on Goro's car i.e. 5-6-3 is actually a pun on his name Go-ro-san. If you notice other interesting titbits from the movie, please feel free to share them with me.
On the whole, I felt that this movie was good in the sense that it offers a low barrier to entry for those new to the "Kodoku no Gurume" world yet establishes itself as a proper standalone film with a decent storyline rather than a remake of the drama/manga. At the same time, it also offers some things old, some things new for existing fans to look forward to. Despite this being Matsushige's directorial debut and he also had to juggle the role of writing the script and playing the lead character, I look forward to seeing more of his works especially if he is going to make more movie versions of this series.
If this movie is playing in a cinema near you, do go ahead to check this out and indulge!
