Sweet Bean masterfully evokes emotions through three different
generations that evolves around the delicious japanese delicacy, dorayaki, a
sweet pancake treat. Director, Naomi Kawase, tugs at the heart strings whilst
serving up a plate full of pancake porn, thus creating something sweet that
will sit heavy in your heart.

Starring Masatoshi Nagese as Sentaro,
a lonely manager of a small dorayaki shop with little custom. The most
customers Sentaro sees are the kids after school who make fun of his dorayaki
for being mediocre. One of the kids, Wakana (Kyara Uchida), is interested in
the job vacancy for the shop despite the little custom it gets. Wakana has
competition however, Tokue (Kirin Kiki), a senior citizen who seems very
interested in making the red bean paste for Sentaro’s pancakes. Sentaro is
reluctant to hire Tokue due to her age and crippled hands, but Tokue’s
determination perseveres and when Sentaro tastes her recipe he can’t say no.
There is something genuine about all these characters as they all share
something that darkens them yet they come together to make something beautiful.

Making the sweet bean paste, known as
an, is a very lengthy process and just to emphasize this Kawase makes this
scene over drawn and mostly shoots with long takes and little cutting, like a
bad cooking show. It’s a beautiful scene however and can be much appreciated if
you enjoy watching the process of making something. The dynamics between
Sentaro and Tokue is enough to entertain you, they both carry an air of
mystique and warmth. It is also very satisfying to see the outcome of all this
hard work and see the small dorayaki shop thrive for the first time in this
film.

Of course this idyllic situation does
not last very long when Tokue’s secret is revealed. It’s a tear jerker to be
sure and it drastically changes the tone of the film. It becomes a tormenting
reflection on each of the character’s past and present. Kawase may have
prolonged this a little too much and though the film is wonderfully shot with
beautiful settings, there isn’t quite enough plot to stimulate the viewer. The
actor’s ability to draw us in by conveying strong and real emotions in the most
subtle way is what really carry’s the film. We want to know where these characters
are going to end up and Kawase manages to convey this with a wonderful air of
grace in the final scene.

With food and emotions going hand in
hand, Sweet Bean is definitely up there in the good foodie movies. It’s
delicate like most of Kawase’s films though it is also straight forward and
more accessible than her previous, if a little long drawn with the mixture of
art-house and story. If you can’t be warmed by Tokue’s passion for making
Doriyaki you’ll at least be craving them.

SWEET BEAN / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY:
NAOMI KAWASE / STARRING: KIRIN KIKI, MASATOSHI NAGESE, KYARA UCHIDA / BASED ON
THE NOVEL BY DURIAN SUKEGAWA / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW