Review: Documentary ‘Kampai!’ dives deep (maybe too deep) into sake

One of two new documentaries devoted exclusively to the ages-old Japanese fermented rice beverage that is currently having a moment, “Kampai! For the Love of Sake” serves as an occasionally enlightening if long-winded primer that will prove best suited to connoisseurs.

Taking a cosmopolitan approach to its subject matter, the film follows a trio of admitted sake geeks from different corners of the globe.

Philip Harper, a British Oxford grad, spends up to 200 days a years holed up in a brewery perfecting his labor-intensive craft as the first non-Japanese toji (master brewer), and Ohio-born journalist John Gauntner, a self-described “sake evangelist,” is recognized as the world’s leading gaijin authority on the topic.

Closer to the source is energetic Kosuke Kuji, who originally confounded expectations that he would go into the family brewery business with his dreams of becoming a professional baseball player but returned to the fold to take the century-old Nanbu Bijin brand to new, internationally acclaimed heights.

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Their parallel stories occupy the most of the film’s attention, allowing director Mirai Konishi insufficient time to demonstrate the intricate brewing process involving mythical-sounding koji mold spores that transform rice and water into the increasingly sought-after elixir.

Decidedly less exotic is the smooth jazz score that sounds like the stuff you hear when you’re on hold with the phone company, but while “Kampai” may initially whet the neophyte’s appetite, it’s ultimately preaching to the converted.

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‘Kampai! For the Love of Sake’

In English and Japanese with English subtitles

MPAA rating: Not rated

Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes

Playing: Arena Cinema, Hollywood