Yin shi nan nu (1994)

Director:

Ang Lee

Writers:

Ang Lee (writer)
James Schamus (writer)

Release Date:

3 August 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Drama

Tagline:

The Ingredients of Life

Plot:

A senior chef lives with his three grown daughters; the middle one finds her future plans affected by unexpected events and the life changes of the other household members.

Plot Keywords:

Chef | Christianity | Food | Restaurant | Baptism

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 4 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Sihung Lung	...	Chu
Yu-Wen Wang	...	Jia-Ning
Chien-lien Wu	...	Jia-Chien
Kuei-Mei Yang	...	Jia-Jen
Sylvia Chang	...	Jin-Rong
Winston Chao	...	Li Kai
Chao-jung Chen	...	Guo Lun
Lester Chit-Man Chan	...	Raymond
Yu Chen	...	Rachel
Ya-lei Kuei	...	Madame Liang
Chi-Der Hong	...	Class Leader
Gin-Ming Hsu	...	Coach Chai
Huel-Yi Lin	...	Sister Chang
Shih-Jay Lin	...	Chief's Son
Chin-Cheng Lu	...	Ming-Dao

Also Known As:

Eat Drink Man Woman (USA)
Yin shih nan nyu (Taiwan) (alternative transliteration)

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

Taiwan | USA

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | USA:TV-PG | Australia:PG | Singapore:PG | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:S | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | UK:PG | USA:Unrated | South Korea:15 | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Park, Taipei City, Taiwan

Company:

Central Motion Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The opening sequence - in which a Sunday lunch is lovingly prepared - took over a week to film.

Goofs:

Continuity: As Chu is downing shots at the last Sunday dinner, he spills some on the collar of his jacket. When he stands up to makes his announcement, the stain is gone.

Quotes:

Jia-Jen: [after an errant volleyball interrupts a boring lecture] Who will return the ball?
Class: I'll go!
Jia-Jen: Very well, then I'll do it.

Movie Connections:

References Tonari no Totoro (1988)

Soundtrack:

I DO LOVE YOU

My Favorite Movie

Being a female Asian American (1st generation), I definitely relate to the movie, especially the three daughters' devotion to their father and of maintaining and continuing family tradition. I loved the differences amongst the daughters: The older religious teacher daughter, the power executive daughter, and the teen aged daughter. However, no matter how their lives diverged, they were always brought back to the table by their ever-patient father. The little neighbor girl was absolutely adorable and the relationship between her and the father is endearing. The best scene is when she brings her lunch to school and the food is so lovely, tall of the children crowd around her and she's the hit of lunch period. Besides this movie, other Ang Lee films that are great are The Wedding Banquet and The Ice Storm and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon - need to see Sense and Sensibility and Brokeback Mountain (maybe even the Hulk), but this movie is my all time favorite - it makes me sad and wistful at times, but in the end, it always brings a smile to my face and touches my heart.