Tokyo sushi master/dreamer Jiro Ono, left, and his son Yoshikazu.
David Gelb’s unassuming little documentary works itself into you with gentle insistence, its hypnotic effect as subtle as it is inevitable. The subject is Tokyo’s master sushi chef Jiro Ono, an 85-year-old whose dedication to the job is so total that his middle-aged sons, well-trained sushi wizards in their own right, seem destined to forever remain in the background at the family restaurant. Ono will eventually have to pass the seaweed-wrapped baton, of course, and Gelb deftly captures the pride, competitiveness, compassion and humour that creates the tension between---and simultaneously unites---the two generations. It’s a simple but deeply affecting meditation about what it means to devote oneself to the highest standards of craftsmanship and, like Ono’s culinary creations, consists of quality ingredients well prepared.