Japanese Film Club presents: Tampopo15

Directed by Jûzô Itami | Japan | 1988 | 1h 54m | Japanese w/ English subtitles | Starring Ken Watanabe, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamoto, Koji Yakusho, Rikiya Yasuoka

Two Japanese truck drivers stumble upon a run-down roadside fast food stop selling ramen noodles and decide to help the struggling business thrive. This tantalising story of underdog restaurateurs parodies classic Western genre tropes, while also providing a humorous and satirical perspective on Japan’s meticulous culinary scene.

A one-off screening presented in partnership with Japanese Film Club. 

Reviews

‘Tampopo is one of those utterly original movies that seems to exist in no known category.’
★★★★
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

‘Tampopo is buoyantly free in form. It’s as much an essay as it is a narrative — always ready to digress into random gags and comic anecdotes.’
Vincent Canby, The New York Times

Sorry - you missed it!

We showed Japanese Film Club presents: Tampopo between May 12, 2024 and December 4, 2025.

Join our mailing list and we'll make sure you always know what's on and when.

What else is on?

Today (Wednesday 22nd July)

15:15

Toy Story 5 PG
Descriptive Subtitles
1h 42m
Bonnie has a new tablet — and suddenly, Buzz, Woody, Jessie and the gang are facing their greatest challenge yet: a kid who'd rather swipe a screen than pick up a toy. Disney and Pixar's long-awaited fifth instalment pits beloved characters against the digital age.

Book here

17:45

The Last Viking 15
1h 56m | Danish w/ English subtitles
Fresh from prison, Anker needs his brother Manfred to reveal where they buried their heist money. There's one problem: Manfred now believes he is John Lennon. Mads Mikkelsen throws himself into the chaos of Anders Thomas Jensen's latest gleefully unhinged Danish black comedy.

Book here

20:30

Nirvanna the Band...the Movie 15
1h 40m
Two hopeless Toronto musicians accidentally travel back to 2008, where their only route home is tracking down a discontinued soft drink. Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol bring their cult guerrilla TV series to the big screen with anarchic, wildly inventive results.

Book here


Tomorrow (Thursday 23rd July)

12:30

Toy Story 5 PG
Parent + Baby Screening
1h 42m
Bonnie has a new tablet — and suddenly, Buzz, Woody, Jessie and the gang are facing their greatest challenge yet: a kid who'd rather swipe a screen than pick up a toy. Disney and Pixar's long-awaited fifth instalment pits beloved characters against the digital age.

Book here

15:30

Effi o Blaenau 15
1h 31m | Welsh w/ English subtitles
In a Welsh town stripped of its pubs and jobs, hard-partying Effi keeps her head just above water. But a chance encounter in a Llandudno nightclub offers a glimpse of another life. Leisa Gwenllian is searing in this spikily funny adaptation of Gary Owen's celebrated one-woman play.

Book here

17:45

Toy Story 5 PG
1h 42m
Bonnie has a new tablet — and suddenly, Buzz, Woody, Jessie and the gang are facing their greatest challenge yet: a kid who'd rather swipe a screen than pick up a toy. Disney and Pixar's long-awaited fifth instalment pits beloved characters against the digital age.

Book here

20:15

The Last Viking 15
1h 56m | Danish w/ English subtitles
Fresh from prison, Anker needs his brother Manfred to reveal where they buried their heist money. There's one problem: Manfred now believes he is John Lennon. Mads Mikkelsen throws himself into the chaos of Anders Thomas Jensen's latest gleefully unhinged Danish black comedy.

Book here


Plan your visit

Our beautiful art deco inspired auditorium can be found just off East Oxford's Cowley Road.We are open 7 days a week. We open the cinema and box office 30 minutes before the scheduled start time of each film, and the Box Office then closes 10 minutes after the film starts. We only show a few adverts – less than most cinemas – and we only play a couple of trailers, so please don’t be late as the film itself starts very close to the advertised time!