Eat Drink Man Woman Summary

Foreign films intimidate many people; it could be the culture shock, or it could be the hesitance to reading subtitles for two hours. Despite these setbacks, foreign films are some of the best made and Eat Drink Man Woman, directed by Ang Lee is no exception. Eat Drink Man Woman offers many elements of a great movie such as excellent filming techniques, interesting and unique characters, and unanticipated plot twists.

Eat Drink Man Woman focuses on the story of a retired chef and his three daughters. The oldest daughter, Jia-Ning is a Christian schoolteacher that is somewhat of an old maid. Jia-Jen, the middle child, would probably be classified as the sexy one, and works as an airline executive, and Jin-Rong, the youngest, works at an American fast food restaurant. All three daughters still live at home with their father, Mr. Chu, a retired chef. The most important part of all of their week is the traditional Sunday dinner, when Mr. Chu prepares an elaborate traditional Chinese dinner.

From the first scene, a shot of the beautiful Chinese architecture of Taipei, the cinematography is beautiful. Also featured in the film are stunning shots of the Taipei skyline at night, which consist of modern skyscrapers and traditional Chinese-style buildings, decorated with Chinese lanterns. Also, the film is shot with very surprising, yet artistic transitions. For example, when a co-worker learns that Jin-Rong has stolen her boyfriend, she gives a very stern look to Jin-Rong then the screen flashes to a fiery pit where the traditional Sunday dinner is being prepared.

In addition to beautiful cinematography, the film also offers fascinating characters. All four of these main characters are very atypical. They all have very strong personalities. For example, Jia-Ning is a reformed Christian and she always insists that the family pray before their Sunday dinners, even though the family doesn't share her beliefs. Mr. Chu is also a very interesting individual. Every day we wakes at dawn for his morning jog. After his morning ritual, he does what he loves most - cooking. He cooks the most elaborate lunches for little Shan-Shan, because he doesn't approve of her mother's cooking. He always says, "I didn't prepare much", but his definition of "much" would easily feed 3 times as many people as it was intended for.

The best aspect of the movie is that you can't easily forecast what is going to happen next. For example, one would expect the "sexy, accomplished middle-child"