Kamome Shokudo (2006)
When my aunt visited us last year, she taught me how to make onigiri or Japanese rice balls. Ever since, I always tried to make one whenever it's a holiday and I have to work. I try to make as many as I can (around 15-20 pieces), and bring it to work for my officemates to devour. I enjoyed every minute of making those onigiri as much as seeing my officemates eat them.
This is why when I saw the DVD cover of Kamome Shokudo (2006), I bought the DVD immediately. It's one of the best DVD finds I've ever had. The cover shows the lead character Sachie making onigiri. The concept and the plot are quaint, with characters that are as odd. It's more like sashimi-odd. Remember your first time to eat sashimi. You quiver a little at the idea of eating raw fish, and when it's already in your mouth, the weird faint taste (sans wasabi) just plays with your tongue and jolts your brain.
Sachie runs a small diner in Finland, she has 0 customer as the Finns are a bit too conservative when it comes to food. Sachie remains resolute and resists the temptation of just making her diner another stop for Japanese tourists. She is bent on making the Finns eat the food she serves, especially onigiri. Things get more exciting when two more Japanese women appear. One is the awkward looking Midori, who was brought to Finland due to the "close your eyes and point at the map trick". The last is Masako, an old woman who is still getting used to her newly found freedom after her parents died, whom she took care of all her life.
My favorite part was when Sachie referred to onigiri as the Japanese soul food. She mentioned it twice in the movie actually. The food always brought back memories of her dad making onigiri for her when she was a kid. She insists on making onigiri despite the fact that the Finns just do not get it. In my case, I always enjoyed making and eating onigiri because it's very personal. Whenever I make a ball of out of that warm fluffy Japanese rice, I always think of the person who's going to eat it. Before I set up making them, I have already made up a list of the people I'm going to give it to. They're in my mind, from the sprinkling of the furikake, down to putting in the filling and sealing the hole with more rice and the crispy nori. It's fun making it that way.
The story progresses just like how the characters talked about their impression of the Finns, relaxed and easy going. There's not much Hollywood twists in the film, and a lot is left to the viewer's imagination. People who tend to ask "what's the point?" whenever they watch a movie might be disappointed. The film is an eye-candy though, very clean with lots of light and colors that make it Finnish and Japanese at the same time.
As for onigiri, I might make some this Chinese New Year. Rice is supposed to be good luck because it's sticky, the same logic as why the tikoy is a staple on New Year ’s Eve. The problem is my list gets longer and longer. I might trim down the list to just a very few, but will make my onigiri a lot bigger than what I usually make.