饮食男女
张丹丹
一.导演、演员介绍
1.导演
李安(Ang Lee),著名华语电影导演、编剧、制片人,其于1954年在中国台湾省屏东县潮州镇出生,祖籍在江西省九江市,毕业于伊利诺伊大学戏剧导演专业,后进入纽约大学电影制作研究所。他从小便在中国台湾两种截然不同的小学教育当中成长起来,后来在美国定居过一段时间,不同的文化体验给他带来了很大的冲击,因此在他的电影中总是在两种不同文化的拉扯下寻求平衡。
李安的父亲对他影响极大,在家里,父亲对他最是钟爱,但也最是严厉,其重要的代表作“父亲三部曲”——《推手》《喜宴》《饮食男女》便是他对于“中国式传统父亲”形象的刻画。除此之外,由其执导的《卧虎藏龙》《断背山》《色·戒》等华语电影在国内外都取得了不错的成绩,荣获了奥斯卡金像奖、柏林国际电影节、威尼斯国际电影节等多项大奖。
2.演员
吴倩莲,1968年7月3日出生于台湾,中国台湾影视女演员、歌手。毕业于国立艺术学院戏剧系,在《饮食男女》中饰演二女儿朱家倩。1990年,参演首部电影《天若有情》,获得第10届香港电影金像奖最佳新演员提名。1996年,凭借与张国荣合作的《夜半歌声》获得长春国际电影节最佳女主角奖。1998年,凭借与黎明合作的《半生缘》荣获第4届香港电影评论学会最佳女主角奖。还出演过《神雕侠侣》《北魏冯太后》等电视连续剧。
杨贵媚,1959年9月6日生于台北,中国影视女演员、歌手,在《饮食男女》中饰演长女朱家珍。1979年参加台视《新人奖》节目,以歌星身份考进台视。后出演《妈妈再爱我一次》《爱情万岁》《月光下,我记得》《快乐工厂》等多部电影,曾获金钟奖、金马奖最佳女主角等奖项。
王渝文,1971年7月29日出生于中国台湾,演员,在《饮食男女》中饰演小女儿朱家宁。曾参演《旧情绵绵》《将爱情进行到底》等电视剧作品。
【参考文献】
[1] 百度百科.李安[DB/OL].[2020-08-03].
[2] 百度百科.郎雄[DB/OL].[2020-08-03].
[3] 百度百科.吴倩莲[DB/OL].[2020-08-03].
[4] 百度百科.杨贵媚[DB/OL].[2020-08-03].
[5] 百度百科.王渝文[DB/OL].[2020-08-03].
[6] 张靓蓓.十年一觉电影梦——李安传[M].中信出版社,2007.
二.电影梗概
电影《饮食男女》是由优秀的华语导演李安执导,郎雄、吴倩莲、杨贵媚、王渝文等人主演的影片,是李安导演继《推手》和《喜宴》之后的又一力作。这部影片是由王慧玲、李安以及詹姆斯·夏慕斯(美)共同原创的剧本,主要讲述了一个由一位父亲和三个女儿组成的中国家庭,在表面平静的生活中暗涌着各种矛盾,继而逐渐走向分散,在分散之后重新找到平衡的故事。
《推手》和《喜宴》主要讲述的是中国式父子关系,而《饮食男女》这部电影着重于对于父女关系的探讨,在中国的家庭里,父亲总是会扮演着一家之主的角色,对家庭成员有着绝对的权威。电影中的老朱是一名即将退休的国宴大厨,和三个女儿住在一起,却在日益消磨的生活当中丧失了对他极为重要的味觉。大女儿家珍是一名刻板保守、笃信基督教的中学教师,随着年岁的增长,内心渴望爱情却不太敢于追求;二女儿家倩是一名独立自主的航空公司高管,也是三个女儿当中看似最为叛逆的孩子,一直想要搬出去住;三女儿家宁则还是一名学生,并且在一家快餐店里打工,正是情窦初开的年纪。
每周日的家庭聚餐是父亲老朱维系与女儿感情的重要聚会,但这个家庭却在某次的聚会上发生了重要的转折。先是二女儿家倩提出已经买好了房子,准备搬出去住,但是又随即发生了变故,房子黄了,钱也没了。然后是老三家宁,平时看似不动声色的她,却最早结婚怀孕,最早离开了这个家。接着是最为保守的老大家珍,却在家庭聚会上忽然宣布已经和学校的体育老师闪婚,就这样原本说要一直陪着父亲的家珍也离开了。随着女儿们的各自离开以及老友老温的离世,老朱召集了影片的最后一次聚会,敞开了心扉,向女儿们说出了自己的秘密,在大家都以为老朱的恋爱对象是梁伯母的时候,他却出人意料地宣布了自己和锦荣(梁伯母的女儿)的恋爱,让大家震惊不已,这场晚宴也在一片混乱中结束,这个家庭也在混乱中分裂开来。原本最想离开,最为反叛的家倩却成为了这个家最后的坚守。最后,大家在自己崭新的家庭里重新找到了与亲人之间的平衡点,虽然不住在一起了,但是关系却又好像走近了。
三.相关获奖、报刊评价情况、颁奖词和权威的获奖评价
1.相关获奖
2.相关评价
美食是《饮食男女》这部电影的华丽外衣,它的内核是一位单身父亲和三个女儿之间的情感纠葛,整部电影充满了中国家庭,甚至是中华文化中的那种含蓄、隐忍、温情和细腻的特质。吃饭,这件事在中国常常被赋予其他意义。或者是不善言辞的父母对孩子牵挂的表达,或是生意场上成败输赢的缓冲器,抑或是庆祝佳节合欢的重要仪式。可能是因为中国人委婉含蓄的个性,在局面快要尴尬的时候聊一聊吃的总会让彼此有台可下,也可能是因为对于这个古老的农耕民族来说,民永远以食为天。
【参考文献】
刘昶荣.我们都不过是一介饮食男女[N/OL].中国青年报,2015-08-06(12).
父权一直是李安电影中试图讨论的主题,他早期的家庭三部曲《推手》《喜宴》《饮食男女》都展现了东方家庭中的伦理人情,也可以称为“父亲三部曲”,三部电影都是以父子关系为切入,表现了两代人之间不可逾越的隔阂,同时也展现了父亲对孩子一辈的包容和宽恕。但隐约中,电影传达出一种“父亲意识”的感觉,在中国传统印象中,父权是威严的,而在李安的电影中他似乎在寻找父亲的威严。
【参考文献】
王峰.这样的故事配不上“技术控李安”.[N/OL].大河报,2019-10-21.
《饮食男女》当然是部老电影,不知是《喜宴》前还是后,反正是《喜宴》三部曲之一(另一部是《推手》)。早期作品在语汇与表达上大抵不会像后来李安进军好莱坞后的大片那么精致,结构也不是非常紧凑的(老三的线显然有些多余),但电影里质朴的人文气息还是扑面而来,这种“教养”应当不是技术问题,也非哪个电影学院可以学得到。
【参考文献】
谢挺.《饮食男女》:错位的喜剧因子.[N/OL].桂林日报,2014-09-15.
四.文献综述
电影《饮食男女》是由著名华语电影导演李安所拍摄的“父亲三部曲”系列的最终章,前两部分别是《推手》和《喜宴》(许晨,2011),其代表了当代中国台湾电影在表现以东西方文化冲突为主的多元文化的交汇、对立与融合这一叙事主题上的最高成就(纪丽君,2010)。同时也是导演李安以包容的态度和现代化的观念重新审视中国传统文化的具有创造性的原创故事(彭柳,2013)。父女之间价值取向的斗争,以及父亲自己内心深处对于自我价值的审视贯穿了影片叙事的整个过程,最终用人类最本质的欲望抚平了文化自身之间的鸿沟(金吉华,2020)。
《饮食男女》电影中突出展示了具有特殊文化和社会意义的中国饮食文化(杨茜,2009)。电影开场就展示了父亲精心准备周末晚宴的场景,展现了大量的中国饮食元素(孙晓,2012),例如鲜活的食材,丰富多样的烹饪手法等。中国人吃饭讲究“色香味俱全”,追求视觉和味觉的双重享受(张倩,2016),对菜品呈现的意境也极为注重,例如老朱在喜宴上所做的“龙凤呈祥”这道菜,其中就表达了对于新人的美好祝福(李成,2011)。“吃了吗?”“有机会一起吃饭”“改天请你吃饭”等则是中国人见面问候的常用语言。因为对中国人来说,生活中事事都离不开饮食,大到婚丧嫁娶,小到接风洗尘,皆要宴请宾客一起吃饭(孙晓,2012),因而出现了婚宴、满月酒、寿宴、丧宴等各种不同主题的宴会。但中国人的饮食并不仅仅是为了生理上的“吃”,更是情感上交流的媒介,在中国,人们常常用宴会、聚餐这样的形式来维系家人、亲戚、朋友之间的情感(杨茜,2009),就像电影中的老朱,每周只能通过家庭晚宴的方式,将一家人聚在一起,通过这样的形式进行交流,以维系自己与女儿之间的情感。而且像《饮食男女》中所展现的那样,一家人总是会以美食菜肴为中心,围坐在一张大圆桌前,一边吃饭,一边聊天,这与中华民族的大团圆的文化密切相关,通过同桌共食来表现和睦、团圆(杨茜,2009;张倩,2016)。中国式家庭聚餐的温馨画面的呈现,突出体现了整部电影的传统意味(许晨,2011)。而西方国家的人则更加注重保护个人隐私,重视私人空间,因此他们吃饭一般不会很多人聚在一起(孙晓,2012)。
这部电影中“家庭”是一个非常具有文化特点的符号(许晨,2011)。中国的家庭文化是以家庭、家族为核心,以家业、家财为物质基础,以亲情、血缘为纽带所形成的的物质文化与精神文化的总和(金吉华,2020)。中国的传统家庭中父亲总是扮演着家庭支柱的角色,他们总是本能地抑制自己的感情,对儿女和家庭负责(许晨,2011)。因而父亲老朱起初像个苦行僧,为了维系这个家庭,总是默默地重复着周末的家庭聚餐(彭柳,2013)。为了树立一个成功的符合传统道德规范的父亲形象,他一直隐忍着自己、约束着自己,在影片的最后,直到味觉的退化、好友老温的去世等事情才使得他放下了自己原本所坚持维护的父亲的尊严,流露出了本我的意识(张媛,2010)。因此老朱这一形象并不是中国传统文化定义的父亲,因为他最终还是选择了与锦荣再婚,投入新生活(盛军,2018)这一行为的设置也体现出了电影中所表现出的对于现代社会与人生存困境的思考(许晨,2011)。但最早想离开家的家倩却在兜兜转转后依然留在了老房子里(程丹蕾,2012),成为这个家最后的坚守。影片这样安排也正是为了说明,虽然人们对于传统伦理道德抱有不解与反抗,但传统家庭文化并未在隔阂与嫌隙中消失,而是在与现代观念拉扯的同时传承着它的血脉(程丹蕾,2012)。如何中和、平衡这种传统与现代观念的冲突,是维系家庭和睦的艺术,也是与家人相处的艺术(张媛,2010)。
《饮食男女》这部电影处处体现出李安对于跨文化的深度思考(纪丽君,2010)。这部电影中,通过父亲与女儿的对立、饮食传统的变化、生活方法的变化、婚姻观念的多元化等方面的刻画,展现了中西方文化的巨大差异(许晨,2011)。例如中国传统家庭中的婚姻观念讲究门当户对,男女年龄相仿,要有父母之命、媒妁之言(盛军,2018)。但在《饮食男女》中,除梁伯母之外,大家都选择了偏西方化的婚恋观念(胡兴莉,2014),因而这个电影中对于婚姻观念的想法都是相对开放和包容的,这也是由于导演自身的多元跨文化身份所决定的。但在跨文化的刻画上,李安并没有采取迎合西方文化的做法,而是站在了中立的角度上,通过写实主义的镜头刻画,对传统与现代、东方与西方之间的对立融合进行了探索(纪丽君,2010),在主题上表达出人生观与社会价值观的重新界定(张承凤,2016)。影片中没有激烈的矛盾冲突,只有淡淡的无奈和潜伏在一家人心中的哀怒(彭柳,2013),只是在平淡的叙事中探求自我在生命活动中的意义存在和家庭伦理观念的悄然嬗变(张承凤,2016)。
《饮食男女》以中国传统饮食文化为切入点(程丹蕾,2012),对传统父系社会进行了反思,对东西方文化的交融进行了关注和尝试,表现出对现代社会人们生存困境的思考(许晨,2011)。影片中的文化关照也是高度自觉的,但其立意并不在于对某种文化表示担忧或批判,而只是一种还原生活本质的呈现,通过这样的方式,浑然天成地表达了导演对于跨文化的关注(许晨,2011)。
【参考文献】
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五.跨文化知识点
1.中国传统饮食文化
与西方人没有主、副食之分的习惯不同,中国的传统饮食文化受到农耕文明的影响,很早便发展出以粮食及其制品为主食,以蔬菜、肉、鱼等为辅助食物的模式(余世谦,2002)。从主食方面来看,中国素有“南米北面”的说法,即南方人多以米饭作为主食,而北方人则喜好面食。中国饮食还主张吃热食、熟食,这是中国传统饮食文化的一大特点,其与中国的中医文化密切相关,注重食物的阴阳调和,健康养生。
中国人喜好亲友聚会、家庭聚餐,生活中不论大小事情都要相约在一起吃饭,既是信息的交流,也是情感的联系,这一点在《饮食男女》中有所体现。中国人很早之前还形成了饮食的礼仪传统,例如主客的座位安排,筷子的摆放方式,“多吃点”“慢慢吃”等客套用语(余世谦,2002),形成了中国饮食的独特氛围。
除此之外,中国一些传统节日所吃的食物,也体现出中国人向往团圆、和睦的家庭文化。例如,元宵节要吃象征团团圆圆的元宵;中秋节要品象征圆满的月饼;大年三十则要阖家团聚,共享团圆的年夜饭。
《汉书·郦食其传》中有言:“王者以民为天,而民以食为天。”可见饮食在中国人心目中的重要性,饮食不仅是一种饱腹的工具,更是中国人情感交流和情感寄托的重要载体。
【参考文献】
余世谦.中国饮食文化的民族传统[J].复旦学报(社会科学版),2002(05):118-123+131.
2.中国八大菜系
中国传统八大菜系是明清以来所形成的具有中国饮食文化特色的地方菜系,是中国饮食文化的重要组成元素和载体(顾秋实,张海平,周星星,赵鹏风,2019)。
鲁菜、粤菜、川菜、苏菜、浙菜、湘菜、闽菜、徽菜是目前公认的八大菜系,但这其中却包含了高达数万种的各地风味菜,种类繁多,风味各异。中国菜系的形成与发展,受到多种因素的影响,其中特定地域的地理环境气候,风俗习惯,历史文化以及生产力的水平是最重要的影响因素(吕晓敏,丁骁,代养勇,2009)。
《饮食男女》电影中,老朱作为台湾赫赫有名的大厨,对川、粤、浙等菜系皆有研究。其中,川菜起源于中国的四川、重庆,以麻、辣、鲜、香为特色,麻婆豆腐、水煮肉片是其代表菜。粤菜即广东菜,相对其他菜系来说发展较晚,但其在世界各地的影响较为深远,国外的中餐大多以粤菜为主。浙菜,顾名思义,起源于中国东海之滨的浙江,其重视原料的鲜、活、嫩,以鱼、虾、禽、畜、时令蔬菜为主,讲究刀工,口味清鲜,突出本味,龙井虾仁、西湖醋鱼是其家喻户晓的名菜代表。中国的八大菜系口味丰富、烹饪手法多样,不同的菜品滋味,也养育出了具有不同特色的中华儿女。
【参考文献】
[1] 百度百科.中国八大菜系[DB/OL].[2020-08-08].
[2] 顾秋实,张海平,周星星,赵鹏风.中国传统八大菜系的地理分布及其扩散效应——基于大数据视角的实证分析[J].浙江学刊,2019(05):47-53+241-244.
[3] 吕晓敏,丁骁,代养勇.中国八大菜系的形成历程和背景[J].中国食物与营养,2009(10):62-64.
六.讨论题
1.《饮食男女》作为李安“父亲三部曲”的最后一部,请你结合电影情节,对老朱这一父亲形象进行分析。
2.你如何理解电影中老朱的味觉从消失到重新回来的变化?
3.有人认为电影中最为叛逆的二女儿家倩留守到最后,是不太符合实际的情节。你如何看待?
4.你对中国人喜爱举行宴会、聚餐,围坐在一起吃饭的饮食文化有什么看法?
5.电影中所体现的中国家庭的相处方式,与你的国家有什么不同之处?
The Artistic Discourse and Semiotic Significance of
Food in Ang Lee's Eat Drink Man Woman
Ye Tian
Eat Drink Man Woman (Yǐn Shí Nán Nǔ饮食男女,US release: 1994)
Directed by Ang Lee李安
Together with his two previous films, Pushing Hands(1992) and The Weading Banquet(1993), Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) forms Ang Lee's famous “father knows best” trilogy,(1) which represents his early successes and also brought him international recognition (French 2015). This movie received the Asia Pacific Film Festival Award for Best Film in 1994,and an Academy Award Nomination for the Best Foreign Language Film in 1995. As a typical domestic tragicomedy,Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) explores the themes of generational conflicts,globalization,and cultural identities with humor and profundity (Dilley 2014; Ma 1996; Ty 1996).
Eat Drink Man Woman,set in 1990s Taipei,Taiwan,depicts Mr. Chu and his three daughters' romantic stories. Mr. Chu,a widower and a retired master chef of Chinese cuisine,is disturbed by the fact that he has mysteriously lost the ability to taste and that his three unmarried daughters are eager to escape from the family. His eldest daughter Chu Jia⁃Jen (朱家珍),a spinster Christian,lives a closed life after allegedly wounded by her then boyfriend in college. Chu Jia⁃Chien (朱家倩),Mr. Chu's second daughter,could carry his culinary legacy,but is never allowed to pursue that passion. Instead,she is cultivated into an executive who works at an airline company. Chu Jia⁃Ning (朱家宁),Mr. Chu's youngest daughter,stoles her friend's on⁃again off⁃again boyfriend. Mr. Chu makes a sumptuous and ritualistic Sunday night banquet for his daughters,but the dinner table soon becomes the place where the family members make surprising announcements of imminent move outs from the family...
As the title suggests,food is the most striking element of semiotic discourse in this film,which develops the story,visually presents the relationships being explored on screen,and conveys multilayers of meanings. Food in this film is “emblematic,infused with significance,and an intergenerational means of communication” and “a linguistic signifier” (Dilley 2014,70). No movie critics can interpret this film without investigating what the food “signified” in every plot. Ang Lee acknowledges that,
Food has always been a big part of Chinese culture. It's a social thing ⁃ friends,family,dining tables where everyone's there. In Eat Drink Man Woman,the dining table is a ritual for the family,where the food is gorgeous and even excessive,but where communications and appetites are limited... I think: A lot of surface harmony that seems to swallow or repress desires. Then one day,when they can't be held in any longer,there's an explosion,in the most absurd way... (Harris 1994).
Generational relationships,as a major theme in this film,are being presented via food. Mr. Chu's mysterious loss and miraculous restoration of his sense of taste,as a gourmand,a master chef,and a father,symbolizes his relations with his daughters,his desires for his life,and even his reactions to the changing world. He lost his taste possibly because he cannot find flavor in his dishes and,more importantly,pleasure in his life because of the conflict between tradition and modernity. “What is valued by him does not seem to be valued by the younger generation,and as he goes through the Sunday⁃night dinner ritual week after week,he has lost his taste for it” (Dilly 2014,74). Food,as a symbol of love,“is poorly produced as the chef can no longer control the right amount of seasoning and is poorly received as the daughters contemplate a move away from the family prison” (Ma 1996,195).
Ang Lee explains the Sunday night banquet in an interview: “Sometimes the things children need to hear most are the things parents find hardest to say,and vice versa. When that happens,we resort to rituals” (Comer 1995,62). Ang Lee made the middle daughter,Chu Jia⁃Jen,explicitly say that “We communicate through food” in the movie,but “the family's routine Sunday night banquet has become such a meaningless and torturous ritual that each member uses it to announce his or her intended exit from the family” (Ma 1996,197). The dissipation of the traditional gastronomy,one of the great achievements of the Chinese civilization,epitomizes the decline of conventional family life and even authentic Chinese culture. Likewise,the happy ending of the film,when Mr. Chu miraculously recovers his taste as he drinks his daughter's soup,also implies the communication and understanding between father and daughter has been reconstructed,and Mr. Chu has finally reestablished his own happy life and reconciled with the changing society.
As a Chinese/Taiwanese/Immigrant/American director,Ang Lee makes huge contributions to the debate of globalization by presenting the differences between cultural identities to the audiences all around the world (Dilley 2014; Ma 1996). The influences of globalization can be found in Eat Drink Man Woman at various levels. Ang Lee consciously produced a Chinese film that a global audience,especially a West audience,can appreciate,by means of a multinational production crew,good marketing strategy,familiar storyline,and,of course,the exotic and dazzling Chinese food.
Dilley (2014) states that Eat Drink Man Woman demonstrates the true nature of globalization: cultural collision and synthesis. The roles of the three sisters in the family reflect this coexistence of contradictions. The Christian church in Asia,where the eldest sister Chu Jia⁃Jen shields herself from family pain and suppresses her own desire,is often a symbol of Western colonialism. The middle daughter,Jia⁃Chien,can only find her own inner peace and the meaning of life by giving up her prominent overseas position and moving back to their old family house. The youngest sister,Jianing,works at a Wendy's burger outlet,but she would rather enjoy a bowl of noodles at a traditional roadside food stall when she gets off work.
More interestingly is how this film compares the love between men and women within food culture. Dilley (2014) suggests that pairing food with sex is not Ang Lee's innovation. Similar comparisons can be found in a Franco⁃Italian co⁃production La Grande Bouffe (Blow⁃Out,1973),a Japanese movie Tampopo (1985),a Denmark film titled Babettes gjestebud (Babette's Feast,1987),and a Mexican film Como agua para chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate,1992). But the link between food and sex in Eat Drink Man Woman is uniquely Chinese.
The title itself is a deliberate,pidgin⁃grammar⁃style,direct translation from of a famous Confucian quote in the Book of Rited(Lǐ Jǐ礼记): “The things which men greatly desire are comprehended in meat and drink and sexual pleasure(Yǐn shí nán nǚ rén zhī dà yù cún yān饮食男女人之大欲存焉)”,(2) which illustrates that food and sex are the bare necessities of sustaining life and are also the fundamental desires of human beings. This is exactly the concept that Ang Lee aims to convey in the film. He said in an interview that to him food is “pure cinema because it's so suggestive; people react to it. They not only appreciate it esthetically,but their saliva keeps going. It's so fundamental” (Harris 1994). Ang Lee believes that food and sex can generate the biggest desires and sensuality in one's life. “One is to sustain life,the other is to multiply it. You can't find anything more sensuous ⁃ they are the two things that drive people crazy,generation after generation” (Harris 1994). Thus,although the sexuality portrayed in this movie is very conservative by Western standards,the English language advertising and promotional materials for this film all highlight that it's a “sexy” movie. The cover of the DVD shows three sisters lying on their backs and surrounds three plates of delicious Chinese dishes,with a line at the bottom from the New York Newsday: “It's hard to tell where sex stops and food begins... Electric!” (Dilley 2014; Yeh and Davis 2005).
Ty (1996) argues that the depiction of communal dining and the rituals of food preparation is the central structure,spectacle,and plot of this film. It reveals the way in which “family and food are inextricably linked to Chinese tradition and ethnic identity” (Ty 1996,62). In Eat Drink Man Woman,in fact in most Chinese movies that aim to appeal to global attention,the Chinese culture,tradition,or ethnic identity is inevitably an object of Western gaze (Dilley 2014; Ma 1996; Ty 1996). “The trilogy reveals an increasing propensity toward exotic travel in search of the Other rather than nostalgic lamentation over loss of the Self” (Ma 1996,195). Non⁃Chinese audiences can immediately enter an exotic tour of the taste of Chinese cuisine/culture simply by watching Mr. Chu's preparation of Sunday night banquet during the opening moments (Dilley 2014; Ma 1996; Ty 1996). In this four⁃minute⁃long dialogue⁃free clip,Mr. Chu slaughters live fish,chicken,and frogs; demonstrates unparalleled culinary skill; and displays wall of knives of various sizes. Ang Lee “consciously choreographs these scenes as a strange blending of the aesthetic and the abhorrent; the chef's metier comes to fuse beauty and brutality” (Ma 1996,198).
This type of gastronomic tourism has long been defined as “food pornography,” which means exploiting the exotic sides of one's ethnic food to make a living (in Ang Lee's case,making a movie) (Ma 1996). “In cultural terms it translates to reifying perceived cultural differences and exaggerating one's otherness in order to gain a foothold in a white⁃dominated social system” (Ma 1996,198). As a result,the nostalgic “Chineseness” that a Chinese audience experiences in this film may turn into an exotic/ethnic venture in an alien culture for a Western audience (Ma 1996).
As a Chinese director in the West,Ang Lee's early films were inevitably categorized,enjoyed,and critiqued differently from the films of white directors.Eat Drink Man Woman is a perfect example,which presents Chinese people's lives in an increasingly impersonal and globalized world for the global audience via a simple yet complicated thing: food.
Discussion Questions:
1.What do you think is Ang Lee's attitude towards Mr. Chu's marriage with the decades younger family friend? What is your attitude?
2.How does this film present the conflict between tradition and modernity and its influences on an individual,a family,and a society?
3.Many elements in this film exemplify the crash and integration of cultures brought on by globalization. Can you find any other similar examples in the movie?
4.Below is the complete passage that contains the Confucian quote that talks about food and sex as the fundamental desires of human being. Please read it and talk about your understanding of this thought.
“The things which men greatly desire are comprehended in meat and drink and sexual pleasure; those which they greatly dislike are comprehended in death,exile,poverty,and suffering. Thus liking and disliking are the great elements in men's minds. But men keep them hidden in their minds,where they cannot be fathomed or measured. The good and the bad of them being in their minds,and no outward manifestation of them being visible,if it be wished to determine these qualities in one uniform way,how can it be done without the use of the rules of propriety (implied in the ceremonial usages)?” (Translated by James Legge in 1885).
Reference:
1.Comer,Brooke. 1995. “Eat Drink Man Woman: A Feast for the Eyes” (January). American Cinematographer.
2.Dilley,Whitney Crothers. 2014.The Cinema of Ang Lee. 2nd ed. Directors' Cuts. New York: Columbia University Press.
3.French,Philip. 2015. “The Ang Lee Trilogy review⁃food and culture clashes link these early gems” (4 October).The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/oct/04/ang⁃lee⁃trilogy⁃dvd⁃food⁃culture⁃clashes⁃early⁃gems⁃wedding⁃banquet.
4.Harris,Christopher. 1994. “A Reel Kitchen Magician IN PERSON” (16 September).The Globe and Mail (Canada).
5.Legge,James. 1885. “Book of Rites (礼记),Li Yun (礼运),” Chinese Text Project.https://ctext.org/liji/li⁃yun.
6.Ma,Shen⁃mei.1996. “Ang Lee's Domestic Tragicomedy: Immigrant Nostalgia,Exotic/Ethnic Tour,Global Market.”The Journal of Popular Culture 30,no. 1: 191-201.
7.Ty,Eleanor. 1996. “Exoticism Repositioned: Old and New World Pleasures in Wang's Joy Luck Club and Lee's Eat Drink Man Woman.” In Changing Representations of Minorities East and West: Selected Essays,59-74. Honolulu,HI: College of Languages,Linguistics,and Literature,University of Hawaii and the East⁃West Center.
8.Yeh,Emilie Yueh⁃yu.,and Darrell William Davis. 2005.Taiwan Film Directors: A Treasure Island. New York: Columbia University Press.
(1) The other two are Pushing Hands (1992) and Wedding Banquet (1993).
(2) “Book of Rites (礼记),Li Yun (礼运),”Translated by James Legge,1985.“Li Ji,Li Yun,” Chinese Text Project,August 18,2020,https://ctext.org/liji/li⁃yun.