This movie is unique in that the story's protagonist, in many ways, wasn't the focus of the film. In the end, the film was as much about the people around him, and the changes that happened in the wake of his life, as it was about his life itself. In this sense, the film is allowed to broaden its scope somewhat, to allow various characters to evolve and various peripheral events to unfold, without feeling like it's lacking focus. Consequently, at the end of the film, the viewer feels like he has gone on a journey with an entire town rather than just one man, without sacrificing any of the intimacy of a traditional story's more "focused" structure.

A success on all fronts, "Udon" is yet another example of exceptional Japanese filmmaking--filmmaking with sincerity, humor, insight, technical mastery, and undeniable intelligence--filmmaking that other countries would do well to study. This isn't a film about box office gross, or about appealing to the lowest common denominator. This is a film about a story, about a place, about a cast of appealing characters. Indeed, there are few things in life finer than watching a film that was clearly made by master storytellers who first and foremost just wanted to tell you a tale. And "Udon" delivers just such an experience.