Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)

A simple movie that had so much. No actions and thriller scenes, just the day-to-day life of a family has made me realised that good movies do not require elaborate plots.

An Empty Home + A Stable Home = A Union

News that lead to chaos

The title signifies two different reasons for the union between Mr Chu and Jin-Rong. Mr Chu someone old, widowed and with children potentially leaving his home could be suffering from empty nest syndrome (Chen, Yang & Aagrad, 2012). Mr Chu  was starting to feel lonely and was sad, knowing that his children would be eventually leaving him. Hence, marrying someone much younger made sense. He found the perfect partner in Jin-Rong, both had love to give, she was still young and could bear him a child and she also had a daughter of her known. Hence, Mr Chu could watch them grow and cook for them to his hearts content.

After experiencing a messy divorce, it could be that Jin-Rong's only concern would be of Shan-Shan,. Her daughter needed a father-figure in her life, someone who could provide a stable home and resources. Hence, she found the ideal husband in Mr Chu. From an evolutionary perspective, younger women tend to see out older men for resources and for stability. Here, Jin-Rong married Mr Chu because he showed love in his own way, through cooking and that signified that a sense of stability and showed that he had something to offer that could be offered for both Jin-Rong and Shan-Shan.

Love Languages - People Show Love in Their Own Way 

Mr Chu

The dreaded Sunday dinner

The movie starts off with a scene of food being prepped and cooked. Mr Chu can be seen meticulously preparing dishes for his weekly Sunday dinner with his three daughters. Every week, an excessive amount of food is prepared, with most of the food untouched and being kep as leftovers. However, Mr Chu still willingly cooks the same amount every week. This is his way of showing love to his children, through the cooking of elaborate, delicious meals. I believe that one of the reasons mr Chu did not allow Jia-Chen to cook in his kitchen because if he had allow her to take over the cooking, he had no other way to show his love towards his daughters.

Mr Chu also willingly cooks for Shan-Shan everyday, even cooking orders for Shan-Shan's friends. Initially thought as a grandfatherly gesture, I realised that he saw her as one of his own, and did not think it as a chore to cook lunch for her everyday.

Furthermore, Mr Chu also shows his love towards his daughters by doing their laundry and waking them up every morning. How many Asian fathers out there would wash and fold their daughter's underwear? I believe that Mr Chu, a man of very few words, did love his children very much.

Jia-Jen

"I will take care of father"

Jia-Jen showed her love through her willingness to stay at home and take care of her father. She never explored love and intimacy after her 'nasty breakup' 9 years ago. I believe there is an undercurrent reasoning for this. She believed that if she opened her heart to someone, there would be no one to take care of her father. Therefore, she shied away from intimacy. She had resigned herself to the role of being the mother of the house, even dressing the part, being conservative and old-fashioned in her dressing.

Jia-Jen only kissed her colleague, the baskeball coach after her sister, Jia-Chen told her that she wanted a sister and not a mother. With this realisation, Jia-Jen changed her appearance from a spinster to a sensual woman, and got married.

Jia-Chien

Finally being able to cook for her father
"I can taste again!"

Jia-Chien showed her love through her sacrifices. Initially, she was all set to move to a new apartment and when that plan failed, she wanted to move to Amsterdam. After seeing her father going for a health check and realising that she could lose him at any moment, she rejected the offer of her promotion and decided to stay with Mr Chu to care for him. Hence, Jia-Chien was dejected when she found out that Mr Chu was marrying Jin-Rong, as she had willingly sacrifice her job for him. Only after ensuring that his wellness will be taken care of, only did Jia-Chien move to Amsterdam.

Furthermore, Jia-Chien also shows her care and love through cooking. She cooked for Raymond to share her exciting news with him and cooked for her father when he came to visit her. She cooked elaborate dishes, putting much thought and effort into the preparation of the dishes. At the end of the scene, when both Mr Chu and Jia-Chien addressed each other, it shows that both parties, although initially hostile towards each other, had grown to love and respect one another. Mr Chu recognised Jia-Chien's talent in cooking and acknowledged that her love had given him his sense of taste back.



References
Chen, D., Yang, X., & Aagard, S. D. (2012). The empty nest syndrome: Ways to enhance qualities of life. Educational Gerontology, 38, 520-529. doi:10.1080/03601277.2011.595285