Ang Lee's "Eat, Drink, Man, Woman": opposites and synthesis

Eat, Drink, Man, Woman is -- as its title spells out for us -- a film about elemental things. It is also about the idea and dynamics of opposites, an idea that is itself both fundamental and elemental. The film is an examination -- often in succulent detail -- about the ways in which the world can be broken down into basic parts and the ways in which love -- and chance -- can help bring those opposing parts into new and potentially more valid syntheses.

At the center of the film is Mr. Chu, a master chef who is losing his taste. This borders on the edge of tragedy, except that director Ang Lee presents it to us more as irony -- as well as a development that provides the characte with a chance to move forward. A widower, he is in important ways stuck in his past, despite the fact that he is the caregiver for three daughters whose lives are both present- and future-oriented.

The title of the movie gives us the building blocks of the plot. "Eat" and "drink" come together primarily in visual ways, and this is the part of the movie that I enjoyed the most. The filming of the ways in which the food is prepared and then savored is just luscious: This is not a move that you should see if you are attempting to stick to a diet. Throughout the film, Lee helps us to see the ways in which food sustains (or can sustain) us on all levels, from its taste to the cultural context in which food is both made and eaten.