I have to say – I was more interested in the lives of the workers than I was in the saké itself. Watching it with a hangover was perhaps one of the reasons why I didn't get too excited about seeing lots of shots of booze.
To be honest, therein lay the issue with this documentary. I looked up the director Erik Shirai on IMDB afterwards and saw that he was a director of photography/cinematographer. There were too many atmospheric shots of steam rising etc. He didn't focus on the people who made the nihonshu enough, and I think that's what slightly marred what could've been an amazing documentary. In comparison to Jiro Dreams of Sushi, this documentary spent too much time trying to look pretty, and would've benefitted from delving into the lives of the brewers more.
Because they were so interesting! These guys have an amazing amount of dedication to their jobs – sometimes at complete sacrifice to their own lives. For example – it was interesting to learn that they all live at the brewery for 6 months and leave their lives behind, but I honestly would've loved to see what these guys do for the other half of the year! It would've taken a tiny bit more work on the filmmaker's part, but I think it would've made for a better film overall. Like the dude Chi-chan who lived in a big old house by himself, and we found out that his wife had passed away, and so he couldn't wait to get back to the brewery. Why couldn't we have spent more time with the characters?
A good subject, and nicely shot, but I think slightly flawed in its insistence on pretty camerawork and slowed down footage. 7/10
