EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1995 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
E A T Men fight for Money
DRINK Birds fight for Food
M A N
WOMAN -Chinese proverb quoted in the movie
If you fall into one of the following categories, then I think EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN should be on your must see list:
1. A father with daughters 2. Someone whose favorite food is Chinese food 3. Someone whose hobby is cooking 4. Someone whose hobby is food photography
If you do not fall into one of these classifications (I fit in exactly one of them), then you will probably still really enjoy the show because it is ultimately about human relationships.
EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN (see above for the unusual way the title is written - I am a big fan of the fonts and graphics used in the titles and the credits of a show) is about a father (Sihung Lung) who is raising three daughters (Kuei-Mei Yang, Chien-Lien Wu, and Yu-Wen Wang) on his own. He and his wife had a stormy marriage, but she died when the girls were younger. This show is set when they are growing/grown up and thinking about leaving home.
The father is a marvelous head chef at a VERY large restaurant in Taiwan. At home, he spends most of his time cooking elaborate dishes with enough food to serve 20 people. The camerawork (Jong Lin) of the food preparation is one of the joys of the show. The colors and textures are totally indescribable. Keep watching the show; resist the urge to leave and go to the closest Chinese restaurant!
The father is as bad at communication as he is good at cooking. He loves his daughters, but he is unable to verbalize it; instead, he cooks it. He is truly a good man and a life saver as a chef. Watch the dizzying camerawork as he comes in from home to save the day at the restaurant at a banquet for hundreds when the shark fins in the soup turn out to be fake.
The heart of the movie is not the cooking, although it is worth seeing the movie to watch it. At its core, this movie is about the relationships between a father and his daughters. As they grow up, you experience their pains and their joys simultaneously through their eyes and through their father's. More that this I will not say about this part of the plot. See it for yourself.
The movie was by the director (Ang Lee) of THE WEDDING BANQUET which, through my own stupidity, I missed seeing. Since it was billed as a comedy, I expected this movie to be a light hearted movie. It started off that way, but it evolved into getting to know, in an intense and deep way, three women and their father. Although the movie was too slow in many parts and needed much crisper editing (Tim Squyres); nevertheless, I left the movie wanting to know more about the people and what would become of them. The script by Ang Lee, James Schamus, and Hui-Ling Wang was wonderful from beginning to end.
EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN runs 2:03 and is in Chinese with easy to follow subtitles in English. It is unrated, but would be PG I am sure. There is no profanity, not much sex, and no violence. Any kid who can read could see it, but I think you would need to be 9 or 10 to understand the issues it presents enough to enjoy it. I give it *** and recommend it to everyone, but especially to those in the categories listed in the beginning of my review.
**** = One of the top few films of this or any year. A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = One of the worst films of this or any year. Totally unbearable.
REVIEWED WRITTEN ON: October 12, 1994
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
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