"Midnight Diner", a Japanese movie. The shaky camera showed the bustling night scene of Japan, and then it slowly calmed down and turned to a small restaurant in a deep alley. The plot is very simple, telling many stories that take place in a late-night restaurant. This restaurant is known as the "Late Night Diner". The menu only has pork chop set menu and wine. The owner can make various dishes using the available ingredients according to the guests' requirements, and he will also bring out the human touch with the guests. story. Each short story is very simple and thought-provoking. Recalling different lives through delicious food is really the best spiritual enjoyment in the middle of the night.
As a sequel movie, it is rare for the second part to be rated higher than the first. It shows everyone’s love for this movie.
The starring role is still Kaoru Kobayashi.
A mature healing uncle who satisfies all women’s fantasies. It seems that every delicacy he serves can heal all injured hearts.
The film starts with three stories to tell the pain and love in life.
Story 1
Barbecue set meal.
In the first story, almost all the guests who came to the late-night cafeteria were dressed in black because they had just attended a funeral and came to have late-night snacks before they had time to change clothes.
But there was only one woman who was different. She was also wearing mourning clothes, but she did not attend the funeral.
But simply because the work pressure is too great, in order to change my mood, I will change my clothes and go out for a walk, and come to the boss to eat a barbecue set meal.
She proved with her actions what "going to work is like going to the grave".
She was an editor, but her work was not going well and she was removed from her position as editor.
I went to submit a manuscript to the teacher, and witnessed the teacher passing away while writing due to overwork.
It can be said that we are experiencing the most "lost" period in our lives.
In such a sad life, fortunately I met Ishida who also came to attend the funeral.
Ishida is a warm-hearted man who is good at flirting with girls. He quickly healed her injury, and the two quickly sparked a small spark of love. From then on, she never wore mourning clothes again.
Is it cured? Romantic? Happy?
It’s a pity that she was deceived.
Suddenly one day the police came to her door with a photo. They pointed at Ishida in the photo and said that the man in the photo specializes in stealing things at funerals and always pursues women at funerals.
Frustrated at work and equally frustrated in love, she put on mourning clothes and prepared to indulge herself, and was almost cheated by a scumbag on the roadside.
But all lovelorn moments are making way for true love. Hurt by love, she finally took off her mourning clothes and found true love.
It turns out that true love is to support you in doing what you like.
Story 2
Soba noodles.
This is a story about a mother and her son crossing the generation gap.
The wife of a soba noodle shop raised her 25-year-old son alone. Because she loved her deceased husband very much, she grafted all her emotions onto her son.
But the son, who longs for independence and growth, does not agree with his mother's concept of not letting go of anything.
I even want to marry my girlfriend who is 15 years older than me to prove my independence.
Because of the age gap, he was strongly opposed by his mother.
Coincidentally, my mother met a new drinking girl in the late-night cafeteria, but she didn't know that this girl was actually her son's girlfriend.
After hearing the girl say that her mother-in-law did not agree with her marrying her partner, she criticized her righteously:
What a useless mother. She just jumps to conclusions without even knowing you.
By chance, the three of them met in the canteen late at night one day.
The mother also jokingly introduced her drinking buddy to her son and praised her as a good girl, which was very embarrassing.
After my mother knew the truth, she was frightened and instantly confused.
Although the mother kept saying rejection, she always recognized her son's growth in her heart.
She came to the late-night cafeteria to eat, and the boss gave her a bowl of soba noodles that was not delicious. In fact, this bowl of noodles was learned secretly by her son after he decided to inherit the family's soba noodles.
The son hopes to revive the store one day and wants his mother to relax as soon as possible.
My mother said it tasted terrible, shedding tears of happiness as she stuffed the soba noodles into big mouthfuls.
The son and his girlfriend finally mustered up the courage to walk side by side.
Story 3
Pork soup set meal.
In the final story, it is about the mother pursuing her son and repenting of her own experience.
A seventy-year-old grandmother received a scam call saying that her son in Tokyo needed 2 million yen.
So the old lady came all the way to deliver money to the scammer. After delivering the money, it was getting late and she couldn't go home.
After hearing her experience, the kind-hearted driver thought the grandma had met a scammer and sent her to the police station. The enthusiastic police officers took the grandma to the late-night cafeteria for a late-night snack.
The girl in the cafeteria who also had the experience of being taken in decided to let the old woman stay temporarily. During this period, the two established a deep emotional foundation.
Give the old lady her own pajamas, share her own wine, and let her sleep in her own bed.
But whenever the grandma’s son’s problems were brought up, she kept silent, which even made the girl suspect that the grandma might have Alzheimer’s disease.
It wasn’t until the old lady’s brother came to Tokyo that he told the truth.
It turns out that when she was young, the old woman abandoned her family and eloped with her mistress. Now she wants to repent for her irresponsible youth, so she comes to look for her son's memories.
At the end of the film, in order to fulfill the old lady’s wish, the police teamed up to help her put on a play.
The police knocked on the door of the grandma’s son’s house under the guise of asking for directions. The grandma was sitting in a car not far away.
Quietly watching the life of my son’s family of three, I shed tears of happiness.
Rather than saying "Midnight Diner" is a restaurant for eating, it is better to say it is a chicken soup restaurant for savoring life.
We are witnessing the ups and downs of the story, and we don’t know how many ups and downs will happen here tomorrow.
Although food is the main attraction, the movie does not describe the food in many details.
Compared with the taste of food, the director wants to convey to the audience the taste of life.
If you savor it carefully, you will find that every kind of life and every ups and downs are like delicious meals, each with its own unique taste. The three stories in the movie also use food to express their opinions. .
Barbecue set, soba noodles, and pork soup set, each food has a metaphorical story that touches your taste buds and stimulates your nerves.
It can be seen that there are no fixed recipes and cuisines in this late-night canteen.
Rather than what to eat, everyone cares more about using this place as a place to stay and the homeless people. People talk about their lives together.
Therefore, the human touch shown in the film is very strong.
The mourning girl’s re-trust in relationships after finally finding true love; the persistence and understanding of love between the son who longs for independence and his girlfriend who is 15 years older than him; and the elderly mother’s confession of her past frivolity. Everyone has help from others on their way to salvation. The companion who encouraged the girl in mourning at the end; the policeman who pretended to ask for directions but actually gave the mother a chance to see her son; and the little girl who went from being taken in to taking in others.
The layers of love and tolerance warm everyone in the late-night cafeteria. When night falls and the dark night goes to sleep quietly, this place seems to have become a utopia in the new world.
They are lonely souls in the late night of the city. They are you, me, and him. They are ordinary people around us.
There is a small clue in the film that runs throughout the film.
An old man who often comes here has the habit of recording what he eats at night, because he feels that if he eats one meal less, he will not have much time left for himself.
But in the end he closed the notebook and stopped recording, because he said——
What matters is not what you eat, but who you eat with.
This is the most straightforward translation of life:
Rather than how to live your life, what is more important is the kind of person you are with.