Book & Film Groups
Father Knows Best: Sex, Love, and Kinship in Ang Lee’s “Eat Drink Man Woman”
What does it mean to be a family—or for that matter, a man or woman—in a rapidly changing society where traditional structures of meaning find themselves under siege? As the final installment of Ang Lee’s (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Brokeback Mountain; Hulk) “Father Knows Best” trilogy and his only film shot entirely in Taiwan, Eat Drink Man Woman explores this question and others in a gripping and beautifully shot family dramedy. Released in 1994, the film was nominated for dozens of awards in the Hollywood art film market, including an Academy Award nomination for the Best Foreign Language Film in 1995.
While Eat Drink Man Woman is sure to appeal to viewers’ appetites and possibly inspire you to cook dinner, the aim of this workshop is to critically examine the film’s cultural contributions beyond its stunning visual sequences. During the first half of the workshop, Dr. Elise Huerta will lecture on central themes, critical reception, and the sociological history of love and marriage to shed light on the film’s representation of Taiwanese kinship at the cusp of the new millennium. Participants will be provided with discussion questions in advance and will be invited to share their own questions and insights during the second half of the workshop.