I really enjoyed watching the movie not only because of the touch of humour Ang Lee trying to deliver on the screen but also the details of Chinese tradition. The opening scene already caught my attention when the shots of Mr. Chu preparing the dinner, from his skills cutting the food and how his old man hands crafting the delicate dim sum, I felt very drawn to know where this movie going to bring me. Then the movie cuts to the life of the daughters, how modern they are, living and working on their day job, especially Jia-Chien, the middle daughter who is very independent and sexually liberated, having a casual relationship with her ex-boyfriend. This contrast of two different elements in the movie shows what Ang Lee trying to tell us, and what this movie is about. The clash of tradition and modernisation happens in most family in Asia up until today.
This film shows the important of gender roles in Asian family where male is considered as the strong figure. Mr Chu portrays such dominance in his family. Despite of his old age, it is known in the family that he is still the head of the family and the daughters need to obey to his request, such as the Sunday Dinner, do not allow anyone to cook in his kitchen at home or even their career choices, especially when he encourage Jia-Chien to go to university instead of being a cook like him. It is interesting to see when Mr. Chu lost his sense of taste and the daughters recognized flaws in his cooking, Mr Chu somehow expressed his rebellion on admitting he is no longer the main provider of the family. In a sense, he is slowly losing the game but would no wave the white flag yet. However, it is interesting to see at the end, when he finally admitting his flaws and weakness and slowly accepting the fact that Jia-Chien is capable on taking his thrown, he starts to get back his sense of taste. In a way, Ang Lee tries to tell us that female is also capable and powerful, especially in this modern society.
The relationship between Jia-Chien and her father became the focus of the movie. For me, Jia-Chien showed the most resistant towards the idea of sticking together as family at the beginning of the movie. She called the Sunday Dinner "torturous" and seems cannot wait to leave the house. The reasons to the dynamic of their relationships became more clear to me when Jia-Chien expressed her passion in cooking and how much she misses her days in the kitchen with her father when she was little. She also has her mother look which is might be one of the reasons she is somehow special to Mr. Chu. I can relate to Jia-Chien because my relationship with my father is similar to hers. I'm the youngest in the family and my father showed great affection to me than any of my siblings. As I grew older the direct, clear form of affection starts to decline. I turned into a teenage boy and my interests in life changed. I am no longer the young, spoil self. My father starts to treat me differently too, and expect me to be matured when talking with him. However, I feel the love in many different ways, it may not be the kiss on the cheek or wishing "I love you" to each other anymore, but I feel the love when my dad cuts fruits for me and we eat them together, or how he asks me if I have enough money to eat. This shows in the movie, Mr. Chu shows his love by cooking all the food for dinner, waking up his daughters in the morning, and even when he gives permission to Jia-Chien to move out of the house. Something about Asian culture where the parents should nurture the children in more authoritarian ways. The love our parents showed us is very subtle, underlying many levels of layers. On the surface they want to be the parents who provide and expect respect from the children, but underneath it all, they need their children as much as they need them.
The revelation at the end of the movie also gave an impact to me. At first, Jia-Chien seems to be very determined to move out and leave her father with her sisters. The oldest sister even accepted the hard fact that she is the one who will have to take care of their father. But at the end, Jia-Chien who remained in the house, carrying out the tradition of the family making Mr. Chu even more proud of her. This shows how Ang Lee carefully crafting the plot, showing us how funny life can be.
No comments:
Post a Comment