Still Single follows Japanese sushi chef Masaki Saito, a wunderkind as eccentric as his cooking is divine.Supplied
Still Single
Directed by Jamal Burger and Jukan Tateisi
Classification N/A; 93 minutes
Opens at the TIFF Lightbox in Toronto on Dec. 5
It is not such a big surprise that there is a strong history of documentaries about chefs and the restaurant empires large and small they preside over. The heat of a kitchen – literal and metaphorical – is the perfect lighter fluid for incendiary human drama.
What is a bit shocking, though, is the strength of a sub-genre within that doc sphere: films that focus exclusively on sushi chefs. Director David Gelb’s 2011 doc Jiro Dreams of Sushi is the gold standard, but there are at least a dozen other feature-length films and stand-alone tele-docs that narrow their focus to sashimi-grade spectacle. By now, audiences are mostly familiar with the rhythms and rigour needed to slice and dice the finest of fish, which means that any new entry has to pivot not on the culinary landscape so much as the characters behind the cutting board.
Canadian director Jamal Burger on the genius and isolation of sushi master Masaki Saito
Judged on that scale, the new Canadian doc Still Single has a star on its ultra-hygienic hands in the form of Masaki Saito, a Japanese wunderkind who is as eccentric as his cuisine is divine. One of the first Canadian-based chefs to be awarded two coveted Michelin Stars for his MSSM restaurant in Toronto’s tony Yorkville neighbourhood, Saito is much more than an A-grade chef. He is unfiltered, inconsiderate and unruly to a fault – in other words, his personality is as raw as the seafood he works with. But that’s part of Saito’s considerable backward charm and what drew co-directors Jamal Burger and Jukan Tateisi to the exclusive realm of his lair in the first place. (The title comes from the chef’s lament over his lack of a romantic relationship.)
Co-directors Jamal Burger and Jukan Tateisi possess visual chops which make for an aesthetically pleasing viewing experience.Supplied
And yet, Burger and Tateisi don’t quite deliver a film as energetic and unpredictable as their subject. The two filmmakers possess some wonderfully idiosyncratic visual chops – I don’t think I’ve ever seen the act of slicing fish rendered so beautifully, so meticulously perfect, as in the kitchen scenes captured here – but the doc’s narrative bobs and weaves to diminishing effect. Saito is on a personal journey, no doubt, but to what end the filmmakers struggle to articulate. Is he trying to better himself, or his dishes, or both? We get the jocularity and colour of a character, but not the layers lurking underneath.
It doesn’t help that many of the film’s side characters, the men and women who help run Saito’s fiefdom, pop in and out too infrequently, so that any progress in their arcs – and there are some fascinating ones, enough to rival whatever dreams Saito is pursuing – is barely felt.
Burger and Tateisi should be applauded for the ambition and scope of Still Single – this is a film that travels across oceans – and it acts as a fantastic advertisement for the riches of Saito’s MSSM restaurant. But unlike a visit to that establishment, you might leave Still Single chomping at the bit for more to fill yourself.
Canadian documentary Still Single opens at the TIFF Lightbox in Toronto on Friday.Supplied