The Genealogy of Sake

I would make sake even if it kills me

This was not your typical documentary. The narrative was interesting, I had no problem following it but it was not linear at all.
The focus is as the name says it, not that much on the process of making sake but on the people from Nato region involved in this job. From toji masters, to apperentices , regular brewers and their families , we see the diferences in perspective,gender, responsability, impact and passion for a tradition transmitted from a generation to another. We get some information on the history of sake , earthquake that distroyed the area and festivals related to Sake.
"The brewing of sake is like fighting mytical fungi "
I especially liked the circular ending of the documentary linked with nature cycle.
On the negatives the pace is slow to very slow and the filming style and resolution are not good. But it was made 10 years ago , so keeping that in mind.

Would I recommend it? Only if you are interested in the topic and have no issues with slow watches, otherwise not.
7/10

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Well, that was both boring and confusing.

[Don't pay much attention to the ratings for this review, as always. Documentaries would need different categories. When will MDL finally allow me to post a review without ratings?]

It's a very slow paced documentary, which I don't mind as such -- but for the most part, I didn't really understand what was happening on screen. They introduced too many brewers and masters too fast, and jumped from one to the other -- some never to be seen again, some would be important later, but I didn't know who would. The narrative also jumped between times -- history and present, summer and winter. They showed one aspect, and then, without explaining it thoroughly, showed another.

I ended up having more questions than answers at the end:
* Why exactly do all the brewers have to stay at the brewery for the whole six months of winter? I get that it's a difficult process, that needs to be monitored closely at crucial times, but when the mash is fermenting, it should be sufficient to check once or twice a day, right? (The answer seems to be tradition.)
* Where do the workers sleep during that time, how are their living conditions?
* Are they paid during the summer?
* The documentary claimed several times that the brewing of Sake in Noto is closely connected to the local culture. We only got to see a few glimpses of one festival. What exactly is the connection, what do the locals who are not working as brewers think about it?
* The documentary claims that the four "Kings of Sake" developed the modern brewing process. How exactly does it differ from older processes?

Overall, it was a frustrating (and boring) experience. For a moment, I wondered if it was me, if it was because I have no knowledge about Sake at all (other than that it's a alcoholic rice drink) -- but no. I also didn't know anything about Sumo but thoroughly enjoyed the documentary "Sumodo".

One other thing: The volume level is very low, I had to turn up the volume on my end several times. I don't know enough Japanese to understand anything, but I still like to hear the people on screen.



Was it good? -- I don't think so. There were a few scenes that were really good, and I loved how they ended the documentary (that one sentence had impact), but the narrative was more confusing than informative.

Did I like it? -- I would like to see another, better documentary about the same topic.

Would I recommend it? -- Not really.
I will give a watch suggestion for the first time after writing more than 130 reviews: Watch from the beginning to 2:16 for the atmosphere, then 23:40-26:25 (for the origin stories of Sake), 27:00-31:30 (for the modern brewing process), and 1:15:00 to the end (for the brewing process of refined sake by a master). After that, you could go back and watch the rest for the brewers and the masters.

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