East Side Sushi (2014)
Review of East Side Sushi (2014), directed by Anthony Lucero.
Somehow, at the end of the day, this film has wormed its way into my heart. Although the acting is kind of questionable at times (not from our main two characters, but from others the acting could be a bit better), and the plot seems unassuming at first, this is a film that I’ve come back to every so often to rewatch and just relive in.
I’ll get into this more later in the review, but I think it’s a wholesome film that shows the power of cross-cultural contact as well as breaking the norm.
I’m about all about keeping tradition in some ways, like preserving the way we have made the food we eat for centuries, but in other ways tradition is both racist and sexist. And, the year is 2021, that all needs to go out the window.
With that being said, let’s dig into why exactly this relates to the plot of East Side Sushi.
Content
East Side Sushi opens up with a single mother, Juana, who lives with her daughter and father is East Oakland, California. Her father works at an auto shop, her daughter is young and going to school, and Juana herself is hustling at multiple different jobs. She works at a Mexican restaurant and is hauling her father’s fruit vendor stand out onto the streets of Los Angeles all by herself. But then it changes when one night Juana is held at gunpoint and robbed of all the money she made at the stand.
This sets off a series of events where Juana works in the back of a traditional Japanese restaurant, one where the men involved don’t think that women can be sushi chefs.
They reiterate the same excuse used to gatekeep women out of the industry: they say women’s hands are too small and warm, making the taste of the fish different. Yeah right. Juana is talented in the kitchen, and quickly becomes enamored with sushi, leading her to defy tradition both as a woman and a Mexican-American fighting against patriarchal attitudes.
It’s a wholesome film, that’s for sure. We get shots of Juana taking home spare fish that can’t be sold to customers at the end of the day to practice her sushi-making, much to her father and daughter’s chagrin.
A budding romance begins between her and one of the Japanese chefs. There’s not a lot special to the film, especially cinematic-wise. No special cuts or editing, not a lot of use of coloring. It’s simple and straightforward, which is a breath of fresh air to be honest.
The charm that lies in this story is that Juana doesn’t give up and wants to follow her dreams.
It doesn’t matter that she’s a lower-class Mexican-American woman working in a Japanese restaurant, nor that she has zero experience with Japanese food. We are fed the story that so many love, one in which an underdog goes and follows her dreams, whether it leads to success or not. And that’s a beautiful thing to watch.
We don’t need the complicated cinematic elements. All we need is this story to keep us going as readers.
Overall Thoughts
Like I said, not a lot special about the movie itself, but it’s a charming story. Upon writing this review, I’ve watched it three times, since it’s been free on Amazon Prime and on Kanopy for awhile now.
I know exactly how the plot unfolds, how boring it is as a cinematic experience, but I still continue to press play, sit back, and find myself consumed in Juana’s world yet again. It may be small, but it is a mighty story that so many of us can relate to. That’s why I recommend this film.
I wouldn’t pay for it, I’d stream it first before committing to that, and I dare to say give it a chance.
