The God of Cookery (1996) Sik san (original title)

Directors:

Stephen Chow
Lik-Chi Lee

Writers:

Stephen Chow
Kan-Cheung Tsang
(more)

Release Date:

21 December 1996 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Comedy

Plot:

The most renowned and feared chef in the world loses his title of God of Cookery because of his pompous attitude. Humbled he sets out to reclaim his title.

Plot Keywords:

Cookery | Public Humiliation | Shaolin | Revenge | Meat

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Stephen Chow	...	Stephen Chow, The God of Cookery
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Stephen Au	...	Emcee
Tung Chen
Christy Chung	...	High School Fantasy Girl
Clarence Hui
Vincent Kok	...	Bull Tong
Liz Kong	...	Reporter at Competition
Suet Lam	...	Pudgy Triad Member
Tats Lau	...	Wet Dream (as Yee Tat Lau)
Kar-Ying Law	...	Competition Master of Ceremonies
Kin-Yan Lee	...	Fan Club Member
Siu-Kei Lee	...	Goosehead
Karen Mok	...	Turkey
Man Tat Ng	...	Old Man
Russ Price
Nancy Sit	...	Competition Judge (The Princess of Taste)
Kai Man Tin	...	Green-Haired Triad Member
Quinton Wong	...	Competition chef
Bobby Yip	...	Swaying Triad
King-Tan Yuen	...	Fortuneteller

Directed by
Stephen Chow		(as Stephen Chiau)
Lik-Chi Lee

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Stephen Chow
Man Sang Lo
Kan-Cheung Tsang

Produced by
Stephen Chow	....	producer
Kwok-fai Yeung	....	producer

Original Music by
Clarence Hui
Ronald Ng		(as Lok Shing Ng)

Cinematography by
Jingle Ma

Film Editing by
Ka-Fai Cheung

Art Direction by
James Leung

Costume Design by
Yim Man Choy

Production Management
Wai Chung Fong	....	production manager
Chia Nuo Wu	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Dion Lam	....	action director

Production Companies

• Star Overseas

Distributors

• CN Entertainment (2006) (Hong Kong) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Cubists

Other Companies

• Mandarin Laboratory (International) Ltd.  film processing
• Mandarin Laboratory (International) Ltd.  subtitles
• Media Business Service Limited  sound post-production
• Salon Films  camera equipment provided by
• Salon Films  grip and lighting equipment

Also Known As:

"Sik san" - Hong Kong (original title)
"God of Cookery" - Hong Kong (English title)

Runtime:

USA:95 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Hong Kong:IIB

Company:

Star Overseas

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Chinese Odyssey 2002 (2002)

Very tasty!

I wish an American distributor had picked up this over-the-top Hong Kong comedy, because it may have helped to break down the unfortunate fact that Americans for the most part are still pretty closed to foreign films. Granted, it's far from a conventional comedy, and not easy for advertising to sum up, but I think this could have been at the very least a sleeper hit on these shores had a distributor patiently opened this across the country.

But you should be able to find this in any good Asian movie rental place in your city. You don't have to worry about any cultural differences - much of the humor is of the international slapstick variety, and even some of the cultural references (like Shaolin kung fu) will be understandable. Now there are some kinds of humor that even had me (who's seen much more of Asian cinema than the average humor) mystified, but there was still a wacky edge to them that made them amusing, even if I didn't know exactly what they were referring to.

The movie is a non-stop barrage of laughs. It does get exhausting at times, and the movie starts to get really sloppy towards the end (the final scene felt very unfinished), but you'll still find much more to enjoy here than in your average American comedy. Even if you end up hating it, you won't be able to deny that you've seen NOTHING like this before!