Eat Drink Man Woman (Yin shi nan nu) (1994)
Average Rating: 7.4/10
Reviews Counted: 31
Fresh: 29 | Rotten: 2
A richly layered look at the complex interactions between a widowed chef and his daughters, Ang Lee's generational comedy Eat Drink Man Woman offers filmgoers a tasty cinematic treat.
Average Rating: 7.3/10
Critic Reviews: 9
Fresh: 8 | Rotten: 1
A richly layered look at the complex interactions between a widowed chef and his daughters, Ang Lee's generational comedy Eat Drink Man Woman offers filmgoers a tasty cinematic treat.
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Average Rating: 4/5
User Ratings: 13,584
Movie Info
Director Ang Lee's follow-up to his surprise box-office hit The Wedding Banquet is another look at ethnic and sexual conflicts in a Chinese family, with meals as a centerpiece of the film. Master chef Chu (Sihung Lung) is a long-time widower who lovingly cooks large Sunday dinners for his three daughters, who view the meals as too traditional. Secretly, however, successful airline executive Jia-Chien (Chien-Lien Wu) loves traditional cooking and would like to be a chef like her father, if women
Aug 3, 1994 Wide
Mar 5, 2002
Samuel Goldwyn Films
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Cast
-
Sihung Lung
Chu -
Kuei-Mei Yang
Jen -
Wu Chien-lien
Kien -
-
Ah-Leh Gua
Madame Liang -
Sylvia Chang
Jin-Rong -
Winston Chao
Li Kai -
Lester Chen
Chin-Cheng Lu
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All Critics (31) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (29) | Rotten (2) | DVD (9)
Mildly charming.
Top CriticAmbitious and entertaining.
The food metaphor never carries weight, and the characterisations are too shallow to lend the film emotional punch.
Wonderfully seductive, and nicely knowing about all of its characters' appetites.
Eat Drink Man Woman is a delicacy but also something more -- something like food for the heart.
Who said foreign films can't be fun?
A remarkably assured comedy-drama of domestic life in Taiwan.
The study of social manners and suppressed feelings became Lee's specialty.
Ang Lee's two-generational soap opera displays the most elaborate food preparation and the most delectable meals since Like Water for Chocolate.
The creatively decorative food presentations upstage the soap opera story.
Solid but sometimes slow drama. I prefer the update "Tortilla Soup."
Superb interweaving of the motifs of food and the search for love
Serves up a rich gallery of sharply defined characters.
An enjoyable comedy-drama, perhaps a bit on the light side.
A warm and keenly observed character piece, filled with mostly exceptional performances.
What makes a movie like this work is how much you care for the characters, and each one here is very well-drawn and fully dimensional.
The colors and textures are totally indescribable. Keep watching the show; resist the urge to leave and go to the closest Chinese restaurant!
The results often yield unknown surprises and treats.
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Movie: ID: 17093 Title: Eat Drink Man Woman (Yin shi nan nu) Release Date: 1994-08-03 00:00:00.0 MPAA: 6 Status: 1
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Foreign Titles
- Eat Drink Man Woman (DE)
- Eat, Drink, Man, Woman (Yin shi nan nu) (UK)
Films like this one often fall into the trap of having each character be so unique that she becomes a type rather than a real person. Ang Lee's direction and blithe storytelling allows each character to become dynamic and interesting without falling into the generic trap.
Although I enjoyed getting to know these people, I can't say that the plot packed any surprises, and it unfolded slowly.
Overall, Eat Drink Man Woman is a nice film about nice people, and it's well-made if not extraordinary.