ACF 1093: Japan Cuts presents Rinco's Restaurant on July 13th at 6:30 PM

Rinco's Restaurant © 2010 MICOTT & BASARA/ TOHO/ AMUSE/ KING RECORDS/
TOKYO BRODCASTING SYSTEM/ HAKUHODO DY MEDIA PARTNERS/
POPLAR PUBLISHING/ SME Records/ NIPPON SHUPPAN HANBAI/
Mainichi Broadcasting System/ DAIKO ADVERTISING/
CHUBU-NIPPON BROADCASTING/ RKB MAINICHI BROADCASTING/
TSUTAYA Group/ Yahoo! Japan

Rinco's Restaurant / Shokudo Katatsumuri
Directed by Mai Tominaga
Japan, 2010, 118 minutes
When: Wednesday, July 13, 2011 at 6:30 PM
Where: Japan Society
333 East 47th Street, between 1st and 2nd Avenues, NYC
U.S. Premiere

Director Tominaga's second feature is a charming and delightful film, a sumptuous fairy tale with some David Lynchian touches. It's the story of Rinco (Kou Shibasaki), a young girl who grows up in a village in Nako Mountain. Actually it's nestled at the base of two mountains shaped like full firm breasts ("Twin Peaks" anyone?) rising like a pair of mounds from the earth. The villagers say that her unmarried mother, Ryuriko, "likes men," which is to say that she's morally loose.

After graduating from high school, Rinco goes to the big city to live with her grandmother,from whom she learns how to prepare many magically delicious dishes. Rinco decides to open a restaurant, but her Indian boyfriend abandons her, taking her love and her money, thus destroying her restaurant dream.

Rinco's voice disappears and she returns to her village to live with her mother, who loves her darling pig Herumesu more than her own daughter. Rinco's desire for a restaurant of her own returns, and with the aid of her friend Aosu, she transforms a small cabin set among some trees on a small rise near her mother's house into The Snail Restaurant, a small affair with only one-table, albeit a fair-sized one. Her dishes are quickly recognized for their ability to make the diners' wishes come true.

Within this tale one encounters a claim of a virgin mother and a "water gun baby" (that is, conceived by artificial insemination), a talking pig, and the remarkable transformation of a customer called Aunty. And there's also a touching message about a mother's true love.

I must say that the subtitles of my screener DVD often left a fair amount to be desired. Why, for example, do characters say "I've eaten" as they sit down to begin their meal? There were a number of grammatical and spelling errors ("adter" for "after"), and mistakes of genre pronouns ("him" for "her"). It's possible that the subtitles at the screening will be better. The bottom line is that, if they're not, be prepared to accept these mistakes, don't dwell on them, and definitely don't let them dissuade you from seeing the movie.

Finally, let me say that the images of the food that Rinco prepares are mouth-watering. I wanted to crawl into the LCD screen of my iMac and feast upon them. Since Wednesday's showtime is 6:30, eat something light to tide you over. After watching Rinco's Restaurant, you'll definitely want to engage in some fine dining, preferably at a Japanese restaurant.

And if you should see the film somewhere else, bear the above advice in mind also. Your taste buds and tummy will appreciate your thoughtfulness.

Japan Society's screening of Rinco's Restaurant is part of Japan Cuts 2011: The New York Festival of Contemporary Japanese Cinema.

To order tickets for Rinco's Restaurant, click here.

Form information about Japan Cuts, click here.