LOS ANGELES — Unlike John Cassavetes’ The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, there’s no violence in Derek Shimoda’s The Killing of a Chinese Cookie. Unless you consider the killing of the cookie’s Chinese — or even Chinese American — roots to be violence.
This whimsical, tongue-in-cheek documentary, which will be shown May 5 at Los Angeles’ ImaginAsian Center, traces the humble beginnings of a dessert that many of us take for granted.
The cookie originated from San Francisco baker Makoto Hagiwara, who interpreted a similar rice cracker from his native Japan. When the film travels to Japan, the notion that the cookie is Chinese quickly crumbles.
“This is just like a Japanese one,” a Japanese priest said after being handed an “American cookie.” “Is this senbei?”
In the end, it really doesn’t matter where the cookie is from, but it sure is fun to ask. The filmmaker turns a host of garrulous talking heads into cookie experts. There’s the erotic artist who sees sexuality in the folds of the cookie, and the film historian who easily quotes the cookie’s appearances on The Simpsons. Giant Robot’s Eric Nakamura and P.F. Chang’s Phillip Chiang chime in, too.
What saves The Killing of a Chinese Cookie from becoming banal cable fare is its humor. Shimoda is nowhere to be seen in his feature film debut, but his comic presence is obvious. Everyone in front of the camera seems comfortable enough to poke fun at the subject matter and then themselves, making the film light and likable, much like the cookie.
The Japanese American filmmaker, who now lives in Los Angeles, studied cinema at San Francisco State University, where he used to make his student budget stretch on the San Francisco pier by looking for three-for-one deals offered by seafood restaurants moments before they close. He has moved on from those frugal days, and surprisingly, he has moved on from the fortune cookie, too.
“I prefer almond cookies at this point,” Shimoda said. “I’ve seen and lived fortune cookie for the last couple of years.”
When asked if that was clue to his next project, Shimoda deadpanned, “Absolutely. My next feature-length film will be on the almond cookie.”
The idea for the film essentially fell on Shimoda’s lap. He was channel surfing several years ago and came across a program about the 110 people who won the lottery after using numbers from fortune cookies. The film starts with this lottery anecdote, the first example of the circuitous yet charming routes Shimoda takes before getting to the heart of the fortune cookie tale.
The Killing of a Chinese Cookie joins a string of documentaries (including Wordplay and Young @ Heart) with seemingly lackluster subject matters that somehow pleasantly surprise. What we learn isn’t so much about where the fortune cookie comes from, but how a mild treat can play such a rich role in American culture.
“It’s something that everybody looks forward to whether they eat the cookie or not,” Shimoda said. “They get their fortune; they read it out loud. The cookie brings people together.”