Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)
 |
Review #1,448 |
THE SCOOP
Director: Lee Ang
Cast: Lung Sihung, Wang Yu-Wen, Wu Chien-Lien, Yang Kuei-Mei, Sylvia Chang, Winston Chao, Kuei Ya-Lei
Plot: A senior chef lives with his three grown daughters; the middle one finds her future plans affected by unexpected events and the life changes of the other household members.
Genre: Drama / Romance
Awards: Nom. for 1 Oscar - Best Foreign Language Film.
Runtime: 124min
Rating: PG for some sexual references.
International Sales: Good Machine International
IN RETROSPECT (Spoilers: NO)
“Raising daughters is
like cooking a meal. You lose your
appetite by the time you're finished.”
The
third film of Lee Ang's early ‘Father Knows Best’ trilogy (the other two are Pushing Hands (1991) and The Wedding Banquet (1993)), Eat Drink Man Woman is a finely-wrought
drama set in his native Taiwan, centering on three sisters and their elderly
father who’s a well-respected senior chef of a famous restaurant.
In
the opening sequence, we are treated to glimpses of the father’s prowess in the
kitchen, and tantalising images of food as they are prepared and then served on
the family dinner table. The prologue
immediately hooks us in, yet it hides how economical it is in setting up the family
dynamics at the dinner table.
Lee
expertly builds on this for the rest of the film, patiently giving us well-rounded
characterisations that portray in detail not just the relationships amongst the
sisters, but also their rendezvous with men, in either professional or romantic
capacities (sometimes the boundaries are blurred).
I
won’t go into detail about the plot or these characters (you should experience
them as they are, and the screenplay is superb), but what I can say is that Lee
plays with the shifting internal family dynamics with skill, almost always in
relation to external circumstances—marked by opportunities and setbacks—that affect
each member of the family. Life is
unpredictable and intertwining, just like a chaotic traffic junction controlled
by a composed traffic warden (a recurring shot that seems to sporadically
punctuate the film).
The
pacing of Eat Drink Man Woman is
perfect. It is almost akin to watching a
television drama unfold from one episode to the next (and I mean this as high
compliment). One would anticipate what
comes next, and wish the film will go on forever, which is probably the most
blissful of feelings associated with cinema viewing.
The
theme of ‘eating together’ may be universal, but in Asian cultures, and in this
instance, that of a Chinese family, it has an added significance—which is its
hidden emotional quotient. The soul-stirring
epilogue is of course very telling, but the key idea is that the hands that
have made the dishes are the very hands that made it with unconditional
love.
I
find that this tension between the unconditional familial kind of love
(characterised by consistency), and the complicated romantic kind of love (characterised
by cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment) is the core dialectic that Lee
wants to bring out. After all, eat,
drink, man, woman—these aren’t important until the right kind of love is discovered,
experienced and appreciated. This is one
of Lee's best films.
Verdict: A finely-wrought drama by Lee Ang, with superb
characterizations, tantalizing images of food, and a strong emotional
core.
GRADE: A
Tweet
Follow @Filmnomenon
Click here to go back to Central Station.
TRAILER:
Comments