Eat Drink Man Woman, directed by Ang Lee, is a film that is derived from an original script by James Schamus.  The main character, Mr. Chu (Sihung Lung), is a consummate chef who lives in Taipei Taiwan and whose fear of losing everything is beginning to happen.  This film tells a story a semi-retired Chinese master who is the chef at the Taipei Grand Hotel.  Mr. Chu has three daughters who are very different from each other and each has their own goals and ideas in life.   Oldest sister Jia-Jen (Kuei-Mei Yang) is still nursing wounds from a love that evaporated long ago, and now is a teacher to a “rowdy roomful of horny adolescent boys.” Middle sibling Jia-Chien (Chien-lien Wu) has made herself a successful career in an airline corporation, even though she would have preferred to prefer the culinary arts her father so magically practices. Finally, Jia-Ning (Yu-Wen Wang), who comes up with tuition money by working at a Wendy's in Taipei, just wants to get by and get along with everyone, at least until she grows attracted to the lonesome boyfriend of her fickle, teasing coworker.

            As the film progresses, each daughter encounters a new man and new relationships start to blossom.  Mr. Chu knows that his daughters are beginning to fall in love because they are appearing less and less for their traditional Sunday dinner. 

            The theme of this movie was somewhat easy to recognize.  The theme of romantic relationship and how they give life a meaning and are necessities, such as eating and drinking is.  The film features numerous scenes displaying the technique and artistry of gourmet Chinese cuisine. Since the family members have difficulty expressing their love for one another, the complex and complicated preparation of banquet quality dishes for their Sunday dinners serves as a “stand-in” for the spoken expression of their familial feelings.

            Another theme in the film is the theme of aging.  Chef Chu is portrayed as having lost his "one true love" (his wife), losing another, his ability to taste, and about to lose all three daughters to marriage, not to mention the usual spectra of old age.

            This movie was not as bad as I thought it would be.  It kept on having twists which in life, always occurs.  Also, the Chinese cuisines prepared by the chef were almost like a work of art.  Although Eat Drink Man Woman was remade in America as Tortilla Soup about Mexican American father (played by Edward James Olmos) and his three daughters, I liked both versions.  It shows the conflicts of members of a Chinese family which I don’t see every day, so it did open my eyes to a lot of expects of the Chinese culture.  Nominated for Best Foreign-Language Film, Ang Lee did a great job.