I watched a documentary called Jiro Dreams of Sushi yesterday, I was fascinated by how the camera movements, music and the meaning presents in this film. Basically Jiro Dreams of Sushi is a 2011 Japanese-language American documentary film directed by David Gelb. The film follows Jiro Ono, an 93-year-old sushi master and owner of Sukiyabashi Jiro, a Michelin three-star restaurant.
The shooting and camera movements in this film is very unique. The director is so good at controlling the depth of field to shoot things, and the different level of depth of field is presenting different meanings. When shoot the details, like the hand movements of making a sushi, the grain of raw fishes and the finished sushi, they are all presented in a shallow depth of field, which the background is blurred, highlighter the object and soften the images. Moreover, when shooting a shot of a character leaving the scene, it is often done by blurring, which gradually lose the focus and shallower the depth of field rather than using transition effects, I think this is very special. Also, in this documentary, it uses mostly hand-held shoot way to shoot things, like tracking Jiro to take subway, shooting people make sushi and even some environment shots, the unique shaky feeling of hand-held shot let the movements appear more naturally, and bring a certain sense of substitution for audience as well.
The music in the film is absolutely amazing. As a documentary of Japanese sushi masters and sushi, I think the background music will be Japanese traditional style music, which to match the Japanese elements like sushi, however it chooses a lot of symphonies, and the collision of symphonies and Japanese style unexpectedly brings the harmony. The grandeur of the symphony is enough to show Jiro’s passion for sushi and his position in the sushi industry of Japan.
Like this clip of Jiro making sushis, the piano and violin sound matches the tempo of Jiro’s sushi making course, for customers it’s just like a concert.
Moreover, the documentary records Jiro’s daily life with sushi, he is humble and loving his job, he says he gives his whole life to the work. Indeed, he hardly rest during the year, and all the details in the restaurant must be checked by himself. For his hard work, he explains that he still has a lot of things to improve, he is a climber who wants to climb to the top, however no one knows where the top is. Jiro’s attitude of working makes me reflect a lot. In my future life, I hope that I will always be humble to learn knowledge, also be diligent and painstaking on working and have passion on my work.