Eat Drink Man Woman (1994). Photofest.
(Yin shi nan nu, Ang Lee, Taiwan 1994, 35mm, 124 min., Mandarin w/subtitles)
Ang Lee’s touching family drama follows a widower and his three grown daughters as their lives and loves interconnect through Sunday meals. Chu has been a chef for decades, although he has been working less lately and is losing his sense of taste. Jia-Jen, the oldest daughter, has been nursing a heartbreak for a decade as she sees the eventuality of caring for her father alone while also considering the new volleyball coach at the school where she works. Jia-Chien is a driven airline executive whose modern approach to relationships provides her freedom, but also often leaves her alone. Jia-Ning, still at university and working at a fast-food restaurant, finds herself falling for her best friend’s on-again, off-again boyfriend.