Soothe your soul at 'Midnight Diner'
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Actress Mikako Tabe in a scene from Japanese film “Midnight Diner” / Courtesy of NK Contents
Japanese actor Kaoru Kobayashi / Courtesy of NK Contents
By Baek Byung-yeul
People need their own space to soothe their nerves. While it is quite a challenge to find a likeable place in reality, in Japanese film “Midnight Diner” there is a restaurant that provides city dwellers that have wounded hearts with a place to rest and eat.
Based on Yaro Abe’s comic book series of the same title, the movie will screen in local theaters from June 18. It tells the story of a bistro that opens during the dead of night, from midnight to 7 a.m., and is set in the backstreets of Shinjuku, downtown Tokyo.
It appears the owner/chef, who is mostly called “master,” only takes orders of a few items ― bottled beer, sake and one side dish called “tonjiru” (pork miso soup) ― on the menu, but he actually serves every kind dish that his customers order if he has the ingredients.
The master does not talk much, but seems to read people’s minds well. That is the reason why he can always fill his tiny eatery, with only nine seats, with customers from different backgrounds, from office employees working until late at night to yakuza gangsters.
No one asks the background of the mysterious master, such as why he has a deep scar. With their favorite food and drink, visitors at Midnight Diner share their life stories and leave after being cheered up.
Though there is no dramatic turnaround and no grand score, except the opening song, adapted from a traditional Irish ballad, “A Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow,” the film will give audiences calm and peace of mind.
Comprised of three episodes, with a theme of three different foods ― “naporitan” (Japanese-style spaghetti tossed in ketchup), grated yam over rice and Japanese-style curry rice ― the film features heartrending stories of three customers. They range from a middle-aged woman, who was a favorite concubine of an affluent man, who is reminded of her poor childhood eating naporitan, to a man who lost his wife in an earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan in 2011, who soothes his soul eating curry rice.
The film’s original comic books and TV drama series have been well received in East Asian countries, selling more than 2.4 million copies in Japan. The Korean remake version is also scheduled to air this month.
Kaoru Kobayashi, 63, who plays the master in both the film and TV version, said during a recent visit to Seoul that he did not expect his film would get so much love from fans in East Asian countries, including Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea.
“The film was already well received in Hong Kong and Taiwan and it is a very exciting moment for me to see it screen in theaters in Korea,” Kobayashi said at a press conference at a theater in Wangsimni, Seoul, Monday.
When asked how many dishes in the drama and film he can cook, the actor said he made every one. “I mastered every food,” he said. “To shoot the film, I learned every step for the food.
“Though many kinds of food have been featured in comics, dramas and films, they are mostly home meals with easy recipes. The real protagonists of ‘Midnight Diner’ have been customers to the eatery who are encouraged by the food. It would be better for audiences to focus more on the three visitors in the film and how they fill their souls.”
The 120-minute film will hit local theaters from June 18.