Samidare Chūbō (1993)

Overview

A small Chinese restaurant is about to open tomorrow. Mr. Lee, an apprentice cook, is preparing the dishes and Kanematsu, a young waitress, is writing the menu by hand. Just as the preparations seem to be progressing steadily, the manager collapses. Kanematsu waits for a call from the senior waitress who has accompanied him to the hospital, and continues to write the menu silently under the broken fluorescent light. Then the phone rings, telling him that the manager will be sick tonight. And the night is over... The script and direction of the film are highly effective in making us feel the character of each of the characters and the gentle connection between them in the minimal time and space of just one night and almost only in the kitchen. The strength of the pictures in each scene is also worthy of note.