Serving of sake is best suited to fans
One of two new documentaries devoted to the ages-old Japanese fermented rice beverage, “Kampai! For the Love of Sake” serves as an occasionally enlightening if long-winded primer that will prove best suited to connoisseurs.
Taking a cosmopolitan approach to its subject matter, the film follows a trio of admitted sake geeks from different corners of the globe. Philip Harper, a British Oxford grad, spends up to 200 days a years holed up in a brewery perfecting his labor-intensive craft as the first non-Japanese toji (master brewer), and Ohioborn journalist John Gauntner, a self-described “sake evangelist,” is recognized as the world’s leading gaijin authority on the topic.
Closer to the source is energetic Kosuke Kuji, who originally confounded expectations that he would go into the family brewery business with his dreams of becoming a professional baseball player but returned to the fold to take the centuryold Nanbu Bijin brand to new, internationally acclaimed heights.
Their stories occupy the most of the film’s attention, allowing director Mirai Konishi insufficient time to demonstrate the intricate brewing process involving mythical-sounding koji mold spores that transform rice and water into the increasingly sought-after elixir. “Kampai” may initially whet the neophyte’s appetite, but ultimately it’s preaching to the converted.
“Kampai! For the Love of Sake.” In English and Japanese with English subtitles. MPAA rating: Not rated. Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes. Playing: Arena Cinema, Hollywood.