The best film of Taiwanese director Ang Lee is probably his adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility (1995). But leading to that success were two highly praised films that he made in Taiwan. They were The Wedding Banquet (1993) and Eat Drink Man Woman (1994). Both films cast Sihung Lung and Winston Chao, and ended up receiving Academy Award nominations for Best Foreign Language Film.
The story for Eat Drink Man Woman is set in Taiwan. Chu (Sihung Lung) is a master chef who unluckily is losing his sense of taste. He is a widower with three grown daughters, all still living at home. The oldest daughter is Jia-Jen (Kuei-Mei Yang), a frigid chemistry professor. Jia-Chien (Chien-Lien Wu) an airline executive. The youngest, Jia-Ning (Yu-Wen Wang) is a student who works at Wendy's. Yes, they have Wendy's restaurants in Taiwan.
Each of the daughters is lovelier than the next, and none of them is involved in a relationship. True, Jia-Chien has a thing going with hedonistic Raymond (Lester Chen), but it's only sex. Among the daughters, striking Jia-Chien gets the most screen time, while Jia-Ning only seems to make guest appearances.
This being a movie, all three daughters are soon presented with paramours. Jia-Jen is romanced by a friendly volleyball coach (Chin-Cheng Lu), Jia-Chien by tall-dark-handsome Li Kai (Winston Chao), and Jia-Ning by easily depressed Guo Lun (Chao-jung Chen). Chu is also courted, by the headstrong, meddling comic relief character Liang (Ah Lei Gua). Jin-Rong has a grown daughter, Jin-Rong (Sylvia Chang). She is a divorcee with a little girl, Rachel (Yu Chen).
All the members of Chu's family have active lives apart from each other. But they try to get together every Sunday night for a family dinner. Chu spends the entire day cooking them a fantastic feast, which the daughters critique while they are eating.
The weekly ritual also provides the setting for announcements. When a life changing decision has been made by a family member, he or she stands up before the table and announces it. These announcements, which tend to break the family apart, take the form of: "I have an announcement to make! I am becoming a monk! I will be shaving my head, and I am moving to the Himalayas!" They are met with understandable trepidation by the other family members.
While the father and daughters live in the same house, they don't have much real communication between them. Jia-Chien and Jia-Jen worry about which one of them will have to take care of dear old dad. Little do they know that father has plans of his own, which don't necessarily include living with his daughters.
Perhaps the weakest parts of the film take place at the business where Jia-Chien works. There is an attempt at comic relief with a stereotype of the domineering boss bullying his anguished, insecure son. There is some shallow dialogue about the value of airline routes. Jia-Chien has a plush, spacious office fit for a Vice President. But she seems to be seriously underpaid for a top airline executive.
The most memorable feature of Eat Drink Man Woman is the Chinese cuisine. A charming subplot has Chu covertly making lunches for precocious Rachel, who craftily uses them to improve her popularity at school. Endless dishes of gourmet food are presented, making you want to stop the VCR and order some takeout. (72/100)
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