Food — once abhorred by Hollywood directors like Billy Wilder for the way it "messed up a scene," (on the other hand, iced drinks and cocktails were a favored adornment) — has become as important to cinema as romance. Or even more so, if the recent batch of self-help manual-like love stories are any indication.
Food in movies has an allure and provides the kind of sensory satisfaction that love stories just can't seem to muster anymore. As my neighborhood sushi chef, Yoshida-san, is fond of saying: "You get tired of a pretty face much faster than the sight of the side of a really fresh tuna."
In this sense "The Chicken, the Fish and the King Crab" (released in Japan as "Fighting Chef") nourishes the spirit and offers a kind of seamless joy that goes beyond mere gastronomical delight (though there's plenty of that too).
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