THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 30, 1994 TAG: 9409290057
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TAMAR ANITAI, TEENOLOGY MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
TO MANY AMERICANS, a hamburger and fries is a satisfying meal. Add the whole family eating at the table together, and it becomes well-balanced.
Many families save the ritual of eating as a family unit for dinner. Often the sit-down dinner is a time for discussing family matters or individual concerns: ``Mom, you know that mysterious $165 call to New York that somehow appeared on the phone bill last month?'' or ``Dad, you know that big crack in the windshield?'' Apparently Americans can't call this ritual their own.
In ``Eat, Drink, Man, Woman,'' we are introduced to the Chus, a Chinese family living in modern-day, fast-paced, high-tech Taiwan. Each Sunday, the Chus gather for dinner.
But it's not a meat-and-potatoes meal. Mr. Chu is a master Chinese chef who has conquered the art of Chinese cooking like Ghenghis Khan conquered China. His dishes put your average, measly won ton and egg roll carryout to shame. The cuisines he creates resemble priceless works of art more than they do food.
Although the Chus are a family of four, the meals he prepares are immense and elaborate enough to present to the emperor of China and feed the entire republic, as well. However, Mr. Chu's three grown daughters don't appreciate their father's cooking, and this is just one of the family's problems.
A widow, Tao Chu (Sihung Lung) raised his three daughters alone. Now, it seems, he is no longer able to understand them, meet their needs or even communicate with them. His frustration leads him to wish they'd simply move out. His daughters dread the ``Sunday dinner torture ritual'' and are burning to leave, too.
For a variety of reasons, Mr. Chu is soon rid of his daughters, but not his frustrations. He grows disappointed with the direction Chinese cooking is starting to take. He is beginning to lose a taste for the very food he creates. He fears he is losing his spice of life, and the family has fallen apart. Eat, drink, man, woman, are the basic elements of life. Food has kept his family together; passion and love have torn them apart.
Countless hilarious and heartwarming twists flame the plot until it is cooked to perfection and the Chu family is back together again.
Created from the same chef that served ``The Wedding Banquet,'' director Ang Lee has concocted another classic, this time shot entirely in Taiwan with a bigger cast, a larger budget and a more complex story line. To Lee, the title ``Eat, Drink, Man, Woman'' refers to two basic needs all people have for survival - food and sex - food for sustenance, sex to create. Lee explores such familiar territory as parent-child relationships and the clash of viewpoints
Three world-class chefs worked on the production full time. Up to 12 dishes at a time would be prepared, each perfectly steaming for one eight-second shot. Authentic recipes were used, and special choreography was devised for the actors to imitate the physical preparation of the dishes by traditional chefs.
Director Ang Lee takes one Chinese family, dishes such as Chi-Ling Fish and Steamed Deer in a Pumpkin Pot, stirs in the overriding force of passion, adds the overwhelming need for sanctity and ritual and creates a culinary and cinematic masterpiece that appeals to all of the senses - especially taste. MEMO: "Eat, Drink, Man, Woman" is rated R, those under 17 not admitted without
parent or guardian. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Tamar Anitai is a junior at First Colonial High School.
by CNB