Eat Drink Man Woman Analysis
The film clip, an opening scene to Eat Drink Man Woman, starts off with no
background music, just the sounds of someone cooking feverishly. This generates
a very tense environment, almost as if the cook is in a rush. Immediately, I
felt as if the cook were planning an extravagant dinner or holding an important
event for a large sum of people. All the movements the cook makes are quick and
efficient while, the body language of the actor is portrayed as strict, serious
and deep in concentration. Almost 35-40 seconds go by until the music finally
starts to fade in. The music in the background is considered upbeat, chipper
and relaxing, suggesting that, instead the cook is passionately cooking the
food and going through the motions almost effortlessly. It is
almost as if the cook seems to be cooking to the beat of the song playing.
Throughout
the film the lighting of the scene was mostly dark with lots of shadows and dim lighting in the
background. The only points when light was really displayed is when there
had just been a scene/ clip of food being prepared or completed. Another scene,
that was very bright in the background was when the cook went outside to collect
a chicken. The scene starts off very bright and airy because the cook is
outside, but as it gets closer to the cook killing the chicken the scene
backgrounds get darker and, immediately, as the chicken dies, the lighting is
dark and we, the viewers, can only see the outline of the cook and the chicken.
The camera angles and extra sound effects are important to take into consideration
as well. Everything in the film is close-framed not, wide-framed views. The
camera zooms in on the food, the live animals, the man cooking, the knives, and
the pots on the stove. The camera also captures the preparation process of each
dish at the rate they are being prepared. The extra sound effects include
chopping of vegetables, breaking bones, and the sizzling of the boiling water.
These effects help the viewer to relate to being in a kitchen and cooking for
all of those sounds are very normal sounds to have while cooking.
In
summary, for me, as I watched this clip I felt almost as an outsider to the
situation due to the music, setting, and the way in which the man was cooking
his food. The dark scene also seemed uninviting to me. One of the reasons I
felt like an outsider is through the way in which the food was prepared. Live
chickens, frogs, and fish were killed immediately before being cooked. In
America, I feel this would be strange to the typical American because, our food
is usually dead before it reaches the kitchen. If I were in this situation, I
would feel awkward at first because, everything that is presented in the
opening scene is very Asian oriented. Plus, the types of food being cooked are
not typical foods I would eat or am accustomed to.
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