Sweet Bean Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

Sweet Bean Blu-ray Movie Review

A charming gem by the great female director Naomi Kawase (The Mourning Forest)

A charming and enchanting tale about making food with compassion in every stage of cooking, the slice-of-life gem Sweet Bean is a mesmerizing cinematic experience that should be essential viewing for fans of classic Japanese cinema hoping to be introduced to a new wave of auteur Japanese directors. Produced by a team that includes Masa Sawada (Journey to the Shore), Yoshito Ohyama (Harmonium), and Kôichirô Fukushima (Fantastic Girls), Sweet Bean is a wonderful gem which adapts the novel by Durian Sukegawa and features a stirring lead performance by Kirin Kiki.

Sentarô (Masatoshi Nagase) is the owner of a small business in the outskirts of Tokyo, Japan: a delicious doriyaki (red bean pancake) shop. The business is struggling but Sentarô's passion for cooking continues to keep his thirst for adventure alive. Unexpectedly, an elderly woman in her 70's named Tokue (Kirin Kiki) approaches Sentarô with the hopes and dreams of working with him at the doriyaki shop.

Tokue delivers a special package to Sentarô including her special custom-made bean paste and she asks the shop owner to try out the bean paste when he cooks for his guests. Initially skeptical of what hiring her would add to his already struggling establishment, Sentarô decides to give her a chance after falling in love with her tasty cooking. It's not long before business is booming due to her fantastic sweet bean recipe and the establishment is doing better than ever! Yet drama strikes behind the scenes when the community discovers that Tokue has leprosy (which caused a deformity on her hands) and the new passion for the doriyaki shop comes to a crashing halt. Can the sweet shop survive?

The performances by the two leads are remarkable to behold and are at the backbone of the quiet and reserved filmmaking. Masatoshi Nagase provides the role of Sentarô with a sense of compassionate grace while actress Kirin Kiki is a heartwarming delight as the passionate aid, Tokue. The storyline centers almost entirely around their combined love of cooking and quest for perfection on the bean paste for the red bean pancakes. These heartwarming performances are central to the transcendent filmmaking and the core theme regarding the pursuit of dreams.

Love at first bite.

The production is remarkably beautiful and there are many fantastic components on display throughout. The gorgeous cinematography by Shigeki Akiyama is absorbing to behold and showcases the richly naturalistic wonderment of Japan in all of its splendid glory. The visuals are enriching to the filmmaking and give the style and tone of the film one that contains whimsical delights that audiences will appreciate being able to encounter. While the storyline takes some dramatic detours along the way to the eventual finish line, the visual palette remains consistently beautiful to behold from beginning to end. Even the romantic way in which the bean paste is photographed as the doriyaki pancakes are prepared is mouth-watering and beautiful to see in motion.

The art direction by Kyôko Heya (Battle Royale, Shall We Dance?) provides Sweet Bean with a truly fantastic style that is mesmerizing. The design of the cute doriyaki shop is a charming delight in the story. The naturalistic environmental shots are similarly enhanced by the subtle intricacies of the surrounding art design. These artistic decisions add to the flavor of the film (and audiences will certainly wonder about the taste of the red bean paste with the lush artistic designs in the classy production). The costumes by Miwako Kobayashi (Babel, Nobody Knows) are similarly beautiful and befit the production aesthetics with vivid splendor.

Naomi Kawase (Suzaku, The Mourning Forest) penned the screenplay and adapted the source novel as director-in-charge. Kawase is a wonderful female director and she gives the storyline her own unique sensibilities as a woman. Sweet Bean is a compassionate and intelligent film in the ways in which it handles the unique elements of the dramatic storytelling. The exploration of leprosy, for example, is filled with compassion.

The film is character-focused and it gives the story a more engaging style that is utterly enchanting. Sweet Bean is a wonderful confection that is as tasty to experience as one might imagine the doriyaki in the film to taste. With superb editing by Tina Baz (Elena, Mad Detective), Sweet Bean is a truly fantastic and underrated gem that fans of Japanese cinema should seek out. A perfect antidote to a rainy day.

Sweet Bean Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from distributor Eureka Entertainment as part of the prestigious Masters of Cinema line, Sweet Bean has received a 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 widescreen. The presentation is truly outstanding and has a beautiful sense of colors throughout the experience. Though the style of the photography can sometimes seem a little minimalistic in design (and has a lighter shade of photography commonly found in many Japanese films), everything about the film is simply breathtaking to experience.

The outdoor cherry blossom trees impress in spades (as do the yummy looking doriyaki pancakes and red bean paste). The picture quality is decidedly crisp, detailed, and organic throughout. A fantastic presentation: this is a truly wonderful looking transfer.

Sweet Bean Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound track. The audio quality is certainly glorious to experience. The audio track has exceptional dialogue reproduction. The track is crisp, clear, and dialogue is easy to understand. The quiet and naturalistic surround sound design works a sublime spell on the viewing experience. Though the track is never rambunctious in the use of the surround channels, the track sounds exceptional nonetheless. The score composed by David Hadjadj (Priceless, Super Triste) is similarly well reproduced and a joy to hear. A quality lossless audio track that gets the job done.

Sweet Bean Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Naomi Kawase (HD, 35:28) delves into the film in an exclusive interview produced in Japan in 2016 for the Masters of Cinema release. The interview in enormously engaging and delves into the creative approach to the film and the director's core ideas behind the project. The interviewer covers a lot of ground as the piece delves into different aspects of the production (from the importance of her role behind the scenes as a female director to her involvement with the Cannes Film Festival).

Some of the questions explored included the question of how Kawase chose to adapt the novel, how Ozu served as a filmmaker of inspiration, the importance of family history, what it was like working with amateur actors for key roles, the directorial approach to working with actress Kiki Kirin, and what it was like working with the cast and crew outside of central Tokyo. Subtitled in English.

Sweet Bean Theatrical Trailer (HD, 1:42)

Sweet Bean Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A sweetheart film (pun intended!), Sweet Bean is a wonderfully enchanting experience about the love and compassion for cooking two chefs share with each other at a doriyaki shop in Japan. Sweet Bean explores some important topics such as the taboo of leprosy and it does with a sense of compassion. The direction by Kawase is exquisite and the cinematography is gorgeous to behold. A wonderfully executed gem that deserves discovery. Highly recommended.