My only complaint about Takumi that I’d be remiss in not mentioning is that in some ways, this shortened version does seem a little bit like (sometimes not so) sneaky advertising for Lexus. I understand that they funded the project, and I’m sure the 60,000-hour version is quite different, but there’s something a little cringy about talking for 45 minutes about the importance of ancient techniques and tradition and then just somehow saying “OH YEAH, LEXUS IS A PRODUCT OF THIS ANCIENT JAPANESE ART!” Maybe it is, but it just seems a bit out of place with all the other things Takumi discusses and maybe I’m just too resistant to let go of my inner revolutionary that thinks “The Revolution WIll Not Be Televised” by Gil Scott Heron could be our country’s national anthem, due to our incessant embrace of advertising culture.
If you’re willing to overlook that part of Takumi, which is possible, if not a little difficult to do, then it’s certainly a fascinating look into the life of devoted craftsman, who should be celebrated in a world obsessed with prefabricated newness.
Takumi: A 60,000 Hour Story on The Survival of Human Craft (2018) Directed by Clay Jeter. Written by Dave Bedwood. Starring Shigeo Kiuchi, Hisato Nikahagashi, Nahoko Kojima, Katsuaki Suganuma, Nora Atkinson, Martin Ford, and Jon Bruner.
6.5 out of 10 Stars
