Yin shi nan nu (1994)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Ang Lee

Writers:

Ang Lee (writer)
James Schamus (writer)

Release Date:

3 August 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Drama

Tagline:

The Ingredients of Life

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.

Plot Keywords:

Chef | Christianity | Food | Restaurant | Baptism

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 4 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Sihung Lung	...	Chu
Yu-Wen Wang	...	Jia-Ning
Chien-lien Wu	...	Jia-Chien
Kuei-Mei Yang	...	Jia-Jen
Sylvia Chang	...	Jin-Rong
Winston Chao	...	Li Kai
Chao-jung Chen	...	Guo Lun
Lester Chit-Man Chan	...	Raymond
Yu Chen	...	Rachel
Ah Lei Gua	...	Madame Liang
Chi-Der Hong	...	Class Leader
Gin-Ming Hsu	...	Coach Chai
Huel-Yi Lin	...	Sister Chang
Shih-Jay Lin	...	Chief's Son
Chin-Cheng Lu	...	Ming-Dao

Also Known As:

Eat Drink Man Woman (USA)
Yin shih nan nyu (Taiwan) (alternative transliteration)

Runtime:

123 min

Country:

Taiwan | USA

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | USA:TV-PG | Australia:PG | Singapore:PG | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:S | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | UK:PG | USA:Unrated | South Korea:15 | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Park, Taipei, Taiwan

Company:

Central Motion Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The opening sequence -- in which a Sunday lunch is lovingly prepared -- took over a week to film.

Goofs:

Continuity: As Chu is downing shots at the last Sunday dinner, he spills some on the collar of his jacket. When he stands up to makes his announcement, the stain is gone.

Quotes:

Chu: Raising daughters is like cooking a meal. You lose your appetite by the time you're finished.

Movie Connections:

References Tonari no Totoro (1988)

Soundtrack:

SING YE TO THE LORD

Ang Lee's cinematic banquet

Ang Lee has turned what might have been merely an extended Taiwanese soap opera into a wise and warm exploration of family relationships, love and friendship, against the backdrop of a traditional society adapting to the modern world. Fascinating in themselves, the food preparation sequences serve as a metaphor for the skill required to transform bare existence into a rich life (and perhaps also as a metaphor for film making, where similar care and deftness are required).

The film focuses on the strained relations between master chef Chu (Sihung Lung) and his three unmarried daughters, and on the relationships of all four in love and at work. These relationships run the gamut from first love to love the second time around; from those based almost solely on sex to those based on none. (Some of the most touching scenes are those between Chu and his older colleague Wen (Jui Wang.))

Via the various workplaces Lee subtly shows us the changing face of Taiwanese society. Despite her father's profession, and seemingly with his approval, his youngest daughter works in a fast-food outlet; the eldest has converted to Christianity, and teaches science to boys, who treat her with a mixture of traditional deference and western-style insolence; the middle daughter is a successful airline executive, but only because time-honoured attitudes debarred her, as a woman, from following in her father's footsteps as a cook.

Unlike the classic Hollywood film, there is little out-and-out conflict in this movie, which seems to be based more on the Chinese philosophical concept of Yin and Yang, mutually dependent opposites. But whatever its underlying cinematic rationale, it is a masterpiece.