For movies with family as the theme, Ozu may be unprecedented, and there may be only a few directors in Taiwan who can cook the taste of family in the language of the Eastern lens behind him. Personally, I appreciate Hou Hsiao-hsien's works more, and Ang Lee's works are also good, but maybe because of the influence of the United States, the overall style is always a little nondescript. Take this "Diet Men and Women" as an example, the story is very good, but I always feel that the rhythm is too fast, the relaxation is not enough, the oriental charm is still lacking, and it is somewhat McDonald's. Of course, it may also be my perspective. Too stubborn, not enough to keep pace with the times. At least compared with the American imitation Hanging up, Ang Lee's Chinese Kung Fu is much more delicate.
After watching the whole film, what remains in my mind is the series of kitchen scenes at the beginning of the film: fried fish, steamed meat, stewed chicken, roast duck... Maybe a little exaggerated, but I still think it is not exaggerated enough: the whole film The rest of the film, combined, is not as thorough as this set of shots reveals the concept of family in China. The traditional oriental family relationship is implicit. Parents and children will never talk about I love you as openly as Westerners. Mr. Fei Xiaotong called it "discipline excludes personal relationships". I see Not necessarily, but the way of expression is different. If one day my father said "I love you" to me, he would really scare me away. The feelings between family members are not expressed in words, but are integrated into the bits and pieces of life, just like the old man in the film wakes up his three daughters every day and helps with the laundry, and the most emotional part is naturally the kitchen. It is very Chinese characteristic to give up when the table is full. It is probably not easy for foreigners to understand such "extravagance and waste".
My grandmother was also a good cook back then. Although she was not as skilled as Father Zhu, and she was not very wealthy, she always had to fry, fry and fry for a few days during the festivals until the table was stormed. If you are not clear, you will be satisfied, waiting for your children and grandchildren to be seated. Later, my grandmother got old, and her sense of taste and memory also deteriorated. She often couldn't handle the saltiness, and she often forgot to put salt. But every time I came back to my hometown on vacation, I had to cook some of my favorite food as a child. dishes. Later, when my grandmother passed away, my grandfather, who never cooked, had a stroke and was bedridden. He actually took over from my grandmother and directed the whole family to buy and cook on the occasion of the New Year, as if he knew a recipe. The meaning of cooking to a Chinese family is really not something that can be expressed by simple color, aroma, and flavor. It is put into the pot and stove, and it is passed down between the gongs and chips. This is the "love" of Chinese families. Gradually read it, but unfortunately I can no longer taste the dishes cooked by my grandmother.
As for the specific relationship between family members, the East is also far more complicated than the West. For example, husband and wife, mother-in-law, sister-in-law, etc., are also like cooking. The heat and seasoning are all subtle, and only oneself knows the taste of compromise. , not as fast as the West can cut through the mess, and do not communicate with each other in old age and death. However, nowadays Chinese society is becoming more and more westernized, and the family structure has also begun to be simplified. It is no longer necessary to "collect all the materials and then put them in the pot", which saves a lot of trouble. It is a good thing to dare to love and hate without any scruples, but I don't know what to eat. Can you still taste the soup if you are used to the tongue of foreign fast food?
The hard-to-recite sutras may indeed be nothing more than "diet men and women", but it is really not an easy task to recite these four-character sutras well.
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