Season 4 kicks off with a Lee’s first three films which are commonly refered to as his Father Knows Best trilogy with the three films connected by thier themes rather than characters.
Pushing Hands – Moving from Beijing, elderly tai chi master Mr. Chu (Sihung Lung) struggles to adjust to life in New York, living with his Americanized son Alex (Ye-tong Wang) and daughter-in-law, Martha (Deb Snyder), a writer who seems to blame him for her own paralyzing inability to focus. But when Chu begins teaching tai chi at a local school, his desire to make a meaningful connection comes to fruition in the most unexpected of ways.
The Wedding Banquet – Wai-Tung (Winston Chao) and his boyfriend (Mitchell Lichtenstein) are living happily as a gay couple in New York City even though Wai-Tung has not come out to his Taiwanese parents (Sihung Lung, Ah-Leh Gua). To get his parents off his back he decides to throw a fake wedding with his tenant and artist Wei-Wei (May Chin) who needs a green card to avoid deportation. Thing however go astray when Wai-Tung’s parents plan an extravagant wedding banquet.
Eat, Drink, Man, Woman – Master Chef Chu (Sihung Lung) is semi-retired and lives at home with his three unmarried daughters, Jia-Jen (Kuei-Mei Yang), a religious chemistry teacher; Jia-Chien (Chien-Lien Wu), an airline executive; and Jia-Ning (Yu-wen Wang), an employee at a fast-food joint. Life at the family’s house revolves heavily around preparing and eating an elaborate dinner every Sunday. However with Chu losing his sense of taste and his daughters looking to leave the family hope the family must now deal with adapting to the changes effecting them all.
Further Viewing
Chef
Gran Turino
Joy Luck Club
The Farewell
Big Night
Babettes feast
Chocolate
Music on this episode
Keith Mansfield – Funky Fanfare
Listen to the Show
