Eat Drink Man Woman

Rating:
Summary: Infinitely charming!
Review: This movie is a small masterpiece! Set in contemporary Taipei, it tells the story of old Mr Chu who is being plagued by two worrying facts: Firstly, he is losing his sense of taste, a rather irksome discovery considering that Mr Chu is Taipei's most famous chef, and secondly the Sunday family dinners together with his three daughters are more and more turning into embarrassing clashes of different opinions and philosophies of life. In the course of the movie the lives of all the characters involved change significantly and the family dinners serve as occasions to announce the most surprising developments, but in the end the situation has stabilized and everybody seems to feel at ease again.

What makes this movie particularly endearing is the easiness with which occurrences of the utmost importance in life are made the subject of discussion: Whether it is love, pregnancy or death, the topic is always treated with great delicacy and with a somewhat compassionate look at the twists of fate, and in passing one gets introduced to the wonders of the Taiwanese cuisine. As is the case with every movie, "Eat Drink Man Woman" is best watched in the original version - which does not cause any problems as the subtitles are easy to follow and the outstanding actresses and actors admirably succeed in expressing their emotions. In short, this is a subtle and most charming movie, one of the kind that, sadly enough, are made all but very rarely.

Rating:
Summary: A Culinary and Emotional Feast to Enjoy...
Review: This film is set in Taipei, and is spoken in Mandarin. The opening scene of this movie shows Master Chef Chu at work in his own kitchen at home in preparation for "the Sunday dinner." (My mouth was watering after the first 5 minutes.) It's a ritual in the Chu family for the [widowed] father to get together with his three daughters for this weekly meal no matter how tight the schedules of or how unwilling the daughters are to come. The eldest daughter is a devout Christian and high school chemistry teacher. The second daughter is an airline executive and the youngest daughter is a fast food chain cashier.

All three daughters aren't married and aren't in any serious relationships at the beginning of the story. But as the movie progresses and each of them find love under the strangest of circumstances, each has an "announcement" to make around the dinner table come Sunday. The audience can't help but feel bad for the father who's getting old and seems to be at odds with her daughters for every small matter.

Each daughter's relationship reflects the uniqueness of individuals.

...

The important theme to this story is hinted at when the father repeats to his daughters that he has lost his taste a long time ago. The audience later knows that he was referring more to his taste for life rather than his physical inability to distinguish flavors. This lack of appreciation for life comes with age as well as his loneliness from accepting the inevitable -- that his daughters are going to leave him alone someday.

There are so many subtleties this film is able to capture about not only the Chinese culture but living with women in general. (I grew up in a household where I was the only male, and I know what the father must have gone through each day.)

I highly, highly recommend this film. As an added incentive, I intentionally left out the surprise ending hinted at on the back cover, as well as other minor details. Feast your eyes and mouth on this exquisite film!

Rating:
Summary: DVD Review
Review: Eat Drink Man Woman is a joyous film that celebrates family, love, and food. Sure to evoke smiles, laughs, and tears. The film is wonderfully entertaining as the lives of three sisters and their father go through changes due to unexpected events. Throughout we are treated to breathtaking photography that caress and studies the art of food perparation. The film is sure to make anyone hungry.

Video: (1:85) A great transfer from MGM, good sharpess and shadow detail.

Sound: Clean and clear, very good audio track.

Extras: Trailers and an interview with Ang and his co-writer. Do not watch the interview if you haven't seen the film, it gives away all the pleasant surprises in the film.

Rating:
Summary: Tantalizing Cuisine and Family Drama in Taiwan
Review: Sunday dinner at master chef Chu's home resembles a spectacular banquet you would only expect at a gourmet restaurant. He works tirelessly to prepare a feast for his daughters who hardly seem to appreciate his culinary skills.

Jia-Jen (Kuei-Mei-Yang) is a chemistry teacher who has discovered Christianity, Jia-Chen (Chien-Lien Wu), is an airline executive who is in love with a man who will never marry her and Jia-Ning (Yu-Wen Wang) has her eye on a friend?s boyfriend.

The basic plot centers around a father who is not only trying to find a new life but is watching all his daughters leave and start their own lives.

Indirectly we also learn a great deal about men through the relationships the daughters pursue. We have a man who is living the bachelor lifestyle, a naive lover who is just learning about the games women play and a man who is willing to change religions to get the girl of his dreams.

This movie is deliciously dramatic with some deeply religious themes. I was pleasantly surprised with the light humor which was not at all offensive. You also see three lifestyles presented by the daughters showing how they each deal with their libidinous whims. The most unexpected twists and turns appear, making the plot entirely entertaining.

While chef Chu finds ways to show his love to his daughters, he is especially estranged from one of his daughters who only communicates with him through criticism of his food. There is a scene later in the movie which shows the father using this same tactic to communicate his love to his daughter.

Some of the comedy is all in the facial expressions. I especially loved the part where chef Chu is trying to eat the inedible lunch and where the children in his adopted granddaughter's classroom are all placing orders for lunch. As a woman, I could not help laughing when he pulls out the nylons and bras all tied up together in the washer.

I?m always complaining about the lack of chef themes in movies. If you are hungry for movies with cooking themes, add this movie to your must-see menu. You almost have to watch this movie twice. Once with the subtitles and the second time just to view all the tantalizing dishes master chef Chu (Sihung Lung) prepares.

This movie reminded me of "The Scent of Green Papaya" (1994). However, "Eat Drink Man Woman" excels in the presentation of the cuisine, while "The Scent of Green Papaya" was more poetic in its presentation. This movie is a visual feast. All I want to know now is where is the cookbook so I can learn how to make that dragon?

Playful romance, creative cuisine, deep rivers of emotional drama and original comedy are the ingredients that make this movie a satisfying feast for the heart and soul.

Three words to take Very Seriously "before" watching this movie: Order Chinese Food!

Don't say we didn't warn you. ;)

Also look for: Babette's Feast, Like Water for Chocolate, Simply Irresistible and Chocolat.

~TheRebeccaReview.com

Rating:
Summary: Great movie
Review: This was my first "Ang Lee" movie and I am impressed. I like foreign movies because most of them do not follow the Hollywood standard of relying heavily on famous movie stars to make cash for the studios at the sacrifice of a good plot, skillful acting, and good storytelling.

This movie is a slice of Tawainese life. Master Chu is a renowned chef and a widower who raised three beautiful daughters. The movie observes the lives of the members of this family and the poeple around them. The storytelling is simple and sweet. Ang Lee has us observing the character's lives as forces around them change the circumstances they find each other in. The film is engrossing and satisfying as we watch the conflict of tradition and modernization affect Master Chu and his loved ones. I'm sure I would've enjoyed it ten times more if I spoke chinese, but the subtitles are better than dubbed. Never watch a dubbed foreign movie. The language will be lost.

I made the mistake of watching this movie with an empty stomach. Never do that. The cooking scenes are fantastic. The food Master Chu prepares are a feast for the eyes, and an empty stomach would only make you yearn for a taste.

Rating:
Summary: So excellent a movie, it's been copied by Hollywood!
Review: This movie is one that focuses on food to get one's mouth watering (particularly if you like the Chinese cuisine) and family. It's a story of family and daughters growing up, leaving their father. I made a large batch of Hot-and-Sour soup (Taiwanese style) for dinner after the movie inspired by suggestions by other reviews here. That was a good move.

This movie was remade in Hollywood as "Tortilla Soup", changing Chinese food to Mexican food. This movie is very nearly identical to "Tortilla Soup" which I liked even more -- probably because it's mostly in English and I did't need to read the subtitles like on Eat Drink Man Woman. However, I still very much liked this "original" version where some details are slightly different. Can't go wrong with the original! The interview with the director/co-author (who also has co-authorship credit on the T.S. version) on the DVD also is quite entertaining (and is in English).

Rating:
Summary: Food is Love.
Review: Excellent movie for the Foodies out there. The story is the same as the one in Tortilla Soup. This one about a Chinese family. Delicious.

Rating:
Summary: A 5-course treat!
Review: Ang Lee made his mark with this movie, Yin shi nan nu, his last in his native home of Taiwan before striking out for Hollywood, although Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon represented a return of sorts. Be cautioned though, don't watch this movie on an empty stomach, as the story revolves around food. A chef has lost his taste for food, and has to rely on his long-time assistant to taste the food for him. Contemplating retirement, Chu tries to bring out the most in one of his daughters, hoping that she will follow in his footsteps. However, it is in his youngest daughter that he finds a budding talent, but first he has to repair the bond between them, which had broken apart after the death of his wife. Ang Lee delicately focuses on this relationship, bringing father and daughter slowly together over the course of the movie. He fills out the story with so many spicy details that it will leave your mouth watering for more.

Rating:
Summary: A Chinese banquet that leaves you completely satisfied
Review: Ang Lee just can't seem to do anything wrong, and this movie is no exception. Food is a metaphor for a widowed man's love for the three daughters he's trying to hold close to traditional Asian ways as they stretch toward the allures of the West. A subtle, mouth-watering, poignant story of love.
Order some of the best Chinese take-out your neighborhood has to offer, rent this DVD, and prepare to be majorly entertained. You may even shed a tear or two, and it won't be from the hot chili peppers in your Szechuan garlic green beans.

Rating:
Summary: Story with much meaning and great performance
Review: You maybe can't believe that the result of mixing comedy and drama will be good,but this movie can show you and can make you feel that ingredient in human-being could make the well result of nice comedy drama!
The story could make you understand about the old thinking and the modern thinking that happened in a little family in Taiwan.The different kind of love could happened via different kind of unexpectable relationships.The goal of human life could be diffent depend in what kind of situation that they are in and also could make their life change forever depend on their decisions too.
The great performance of Wu Chien Lien(who played the second daughter of a cook in this movie)could reflect the character that she played very well.She can reflect the modern thinking of woman ,also in the same time she can reflect the old thinking about principle of family's life so smoothly.
This is really good movies with much of meaning and great performance that you can't miss!