Product Description

From celebrated director Ang Lee (The Ice Storm, Sense and Sensibility) comes a movieso visually stunning that it spans the "beautiful balance of elementsmellow, harmonious and poignantly funny" (The Washington Post). This "charming study of love, family and tradition" (Leonard Maltin) "tickles both mind and body" (Movie Reviews UK). Trouble is cooking forwidower and master chef Chu (Sihung Lung) who's about to discover that no matter how dazzling and delicious his culinary creations might be, they're no match for the libidinous whims of his three beautiful but rebellious daughters. A master in the kitchen, Chu is at a loss when it comes to the ingredients of being a father. Every Sunday, he whips up a delicacy of dishes for his ungrateful daughters, who are so self-consumed that they don't see his attempt at showing them lovegastronomically.So, as relationships sour and communications break down, Chu concocts a sure-fire recipe that will bring his family back together: He creates his own love affair to rival his daughters' affections!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3757 in DVD
• Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
• Released on: 2002-03-05
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: Mandarin Chinese
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 123 minutes

Features

• From celebrated director Ang Lee (The Ice Storm, Sense and Sensibility) comes a movie so visually stunning that it spans the "beautiful balance of elements mellow, harmonious and poignantly funny" (The Washington Post). This "charming study of love, family and tradition" (Leonard Maltin) "tickles both mind and body" (Movie Reviews UK). Trouble is cooking for widower and master chef Chu (Sihung

Amazon.com essential video
This is not a movie to see on an empty stomach. Writer-director Ang Lee's 1994 Oscar nominee tells a family story about a chef and his three daughters through the meals the chef prepares and serves his family. This touching, dryly funny story of a family coping with personal lives and the way those lives intersect with the family relationships captures a shift in generations in Taipei. The father, a famous chef who has lost his taste buds, still cooks, though he draws no pleasure from eating. His daughters, meanwhile, deal with both the disappointments and surprises of daily living and the way their adult lives compare to the expectations the widowed father had for them. A subtle, amusing--and mouth-watering--comedy of impeccable manners. --Marshall Fine

From The New Yorker
Another comedy of marriage from Ang Lee, the director of "The Wedding Banquet." Again, the structure locks smoothly into place: the aging Mr. Chu (Sihung Lung) is a widowed chef, living in Taipei with his three daughters, each of whom is getting itchy for the world beyond. (Watch out for the exquisite Chien-Lien Wu as Jia-Chien, the pushiest of the three.) Mr. Chu is a King Lear of the kitchen: a master on his own ground, slapping fish around and blowing air into a boiled chicken, but gradually losing his sense of taste and his power to rule. With its busy, silken editing, the movie chops back and forth between the various characters as they stumble toward their desires. It's a trim, likable piece of work; there are wonderful shots of humming traffic and shouting cooks. Lee is a throwback to old Hollywood-you can imagine him learning his craft, and his reliable optimism, under Capra. But that guarantee of good taste is, finally, a bit of a downer; there are plenty of surprises, but no hint of risk. And after "Tampopo," "Like Water for Chocolate," and the wholly superior "Babette's Feast," isn't the plug for food as a life-force getting hard to stomach? In Mandarin. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker