Eat,Drink,Man, Woman

The main island of the archipelago is Taiwan Island, which comprises about 98 % of the current jurisdiction of the Republic of China; the other 2 % consists of the smaller islands of the archipelago - Orchid Island and the Pescadores, along with the tiny islets - Green Island and Hsiao Liuchiu. The archipelago is separated from mainland China by the Taiwan Strait, which ranges from 220km at its widest point to 130km at its narrowest point. Taiwan is bounded by the Bashi Channel in the south, the East China Sea in the north, and the Pacific Ocean in the east. The climate on the island is generally marine and varies widely by season in the Northern part and the mountain areas. The South, however, belongs to the tropical belt and is warm and humid all year. From May to June Taiwan experiences almost daily showers.
The movie “Eat, Drink, Man, Woman” directed by Ang Lee really painted a picture of life in Taiwan. It tells a story of a widower trying to maintain his relationships with his daughters. The old man plays a master chef who is really enthusiastic about his culinary. The movie focuses on the lives of his daughters and how the subsequent events affect his life.
The movie starts of with the old man working on a Friday banquet just for his daughters. The idea of family getting together for weekly dinner and sharing important announcements are tied together to their family values. But still they provide everyone with sense of privacy in terms of career paths they choose. One of the daughters’ works for an Airline Company, one of them is a teacher and another one works at a fast food restaurant.
Even though they family practices traditional Taoism, the prominent religion in Taiwan, they are also free to have different religious beliefs. The older daughter goes to church, offers prayer before she is having a meal. While others do not participate in, they still respect each other.
Taiwan has been a democratic state and participated in trade relations all over the globe. They are an important player in the capitalistic economies and the movie portrays that. Throughout the movie, references are made to people who left for United States for higher education or just living in the United States. The airline company is involved in deals in Netherlands and Australia. The booming economy in Taiwan also introduced the factor of people trying to move away from family homes to city apartment complexes. In one scene, the second daughter makes an announcement at dinner that she will be moving to a new luxury apartment in the city.