The Chinese Feast (1995) User Reviews

Very Amusing Time Passer

[bluzman · 8/10 · 17 August 2002]

The first time i saw this movie was on a flight between Guangzhou, China and Los Angeles. It was a real hoot and made the trip pass with much less discomfort than the normal 10 hour flight. I tried to locate a copy of it without success until I discovered a copy for sale on eBay. Having now watched it twice, I recommend it as good entertainment. My only real criticisms are that the choice of English translation words for the subtitles is sub par, even by normal standards. Also, the subtitling is little to small, blends into the movie too often and frequently travels too fast to read well.

What a Feast

[gnash75128 · 8/10 · 15 October 2007]

Okay maybe it was because I happen to be in Yangchun China when I saw this movie. Maybe it was because I finally had something on TV I could understand or at least read the subtitles, or maybe it was just funny. Whatever it was this movie was worth the time.

I had just arrived for my foot and head massage when they gave me the remote so I could watch TV. Usually I would turn the darn thing off but I stumbled upon this crazy movie and got hooked.

The plot if you could call it a plot sort of revolves around a cooking competition and sort of is a love story and the food in this movie is the real star. If you like Iron Chef and many of the other cooking shows currently in the reality TV mode, then you will love the scenes with food in this movie.

It goes fast and the subtitles are so fast you better be up on speed reading for this one. However the action is mostly slapstick so you don't always have to read the entire subtitle to get the idea.

The main actress is lovely eye candy and the main actor isn't bad to look at either. They are both worth watching. Finally if you have some time to kill and want a good laugh this isn't a bad choice for both.

I don't speak a word of Chinese but I was totally able to understand the cultural humor of this film. For those who do speak Chinese maybe it is even better. Overall I give this an 8 out of 10 and currently I am even looking to find a copy to have while I stay in China, and keep for when I come back home, it will be a nice reminder for me of my time in Yangchun and a silly afternoon at the massage salon watching a silly movie.

Amazing cooking scenes

[erro · 9/10 · 7 May 2000]

How is bear´s paw, elephant´s trunk or monkey´s brain for dinner? Let Tsui Hark tell you in this wonderful and lighthearted comedy about the art of cooking the traditional(?) Chinese way.

This movie shares the common structure of an American sports movie, but instead of focusing on baseball it centers around cooking which makes it all the more interesting. I even think Leslie Cheung´s character look a lot like Charlie Sheen in Major League...

This movie also contains a bit of Zhao Wen Zhao vs Xiong Xin Xin fighting (love seeing more of that after The Blade) and a quite funny in-joke concerning a Leon Lai pop song...

Perhaps not the ideal movie for the strict vegetarian though.

Question for HK movie makers.

[timothyharrington · 10/10 · 21 May 2006]

This was a very funny, fast paced movie. I watched it more than once and am keeping my rental around to show others. I'd just like to take this opportunity to ask anyone in the know, how do HK producers choose their subtitle translators? I'm most curious. Please direct me.

Again, to return to review, it is a really rollicking film with plenty of content, subtleties reminiscent of the classics, though full of slapstick. Reminiscent, say, of the Mexican comedies of Cantinflas.

The film does not disappoint fans of the director who have noticed that he chooses distinctly Chinese themes, trying to get to characteristics rarely explored. The director's entire collection is way of getting a look inside the culture in a disarming way.

And I don't see how his funny girl in Chinese Feast could be topped.

you don't need to be Mandarin to enjoy

[eetstatik · 2 September 2001]

Many people are understandably afraid to watch foreign comedies in fear that they will miss the humor, that the subtle cultural aspects that develop a comedy will be lost on them. But one doesn't have to worry about such a thing with the Chinese Feast because it's style transcends cultural boundaries. Okay, i'll put it simply, it's funny, and it's fun, and in a way anyone can understand. I walked away feeling good, feeling happy, and not feeling like i had been treated to a cheese feast like some light comedies. I have seen other examples of comedy from the Asian countries, and maybe i just didn't get the subtle cultural jokes along with the others, but i saw the comedy was very accessible beyond national boundaries. I was also surprised to see a comedy from Tsui Hark after being introduced to him through his much more tragic and pessimistic Green Snake. As for Hark, he gives a fluid and lyrical direction along with a sense of timing which helps make this movie. And if you don't care about any of this, at least watch it for the very attractive Leslie Chueng.

A piece of hk movie history

[kid_slackerz · 9/10 · 1 September 2018]

This is a movie that brings you back to what Hong Kong silver age of movies. Next to God of Cookery this is a classic. Hard for me to track down this movie since it aired on national tv and it is a beloved even by me a non chinese and non chinese speaking background. Trops that you see in cooking dramas and even cooking style anime is here to please the fans. Amidst all of the when i am older watching this movie what it is ismore than a cooking competition show . It is in its core a story of heart and love for the things that you do and the one that you love. Even if the subtitle is noy great im sure since meaning is always lost in translation, a qoute from the movie, "for you, it will all be for you" still left me crying.