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金玉滿堂 (1995)
The Chinese Feast


Reviewed by: Chungking_Cash
Date: 03/04/2010

Tsui Hark's popular 1995 Lunar New Year comedy is cute, yes, but too often just as aggravatingly nonsensical -- even for this brand of seasonal fluff -- when it has all the right ingredients and plenty of talented chefs to be far more comforting. This is not to say that "The Chinese Feast" doesn't look good: the cast is seasoned, the photography is crisp, and the lengths the chefs go to transcend one another during a traditional three day gourmet slam is almost enough to make the film a thoroughly enjoyable slice of culinary cinema.

Reviewer Score: 6

Reviewed by: JohnR
Date: 07/11/2006
Summary: Still Fresh

This movie may not be for everyone, with it’s mix of goofball/slapstick and haute cuisine, but I find myself coming back to it again and again. It’s one of my favorite Anita Yuen performances and I’m a sucker for Leslie Cheung.

The plot is a bit far fetched. Leslie plays a low-level triad leader. His girlfriend has emigrated to Canada and he wants to follow her, so he’s giving up his triad career in favor of becoming a chef; apparently Canada gives visas for the later more frequently than the former.

This puts him into the employ of Anita’s father, a well-known and respected chef. Her father would like her to follow him in the business, but she wants her freedom and tries to drive him nuts so he’ll give in. The interactions between the two are really funny as she tries to outrage him and he tries to pretend there’s nothing amiss.

Long story short, Leslie & Anita team up to find and rehabilitate Hong Kong’s greatest chef in order to win the climatic cookoff with the villain and allow the father to retain his restaurant.

There are a lot of fun moments in the movie; Leslie and Anita seem to be truly enjoying themselves. I’m not going to get into the “which is better, ACF or God of Cookery” debate; I like them both. 7.5/10


Reviewed by: j.crawford
Date: 12/18/2004
Summary: Fun with food and stuff.....

Missed this one in '95, so I was glad to get the DVD. Tsui Hark is in great form with this film about a top level cooking competition. Visually stunning, the food presentations are awesome! The cast is suberb, the writing is very clever. Leslie Cheung is sorely missed, it was good to see him in action here. He was great in this film.

Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: Inner Strength
Date: 03/02/2003

2/5

Reviewer Score: 4

Reviewed by: zarrsadus
Date: 10/24/2001
Summary: Decent

Having seen God of Cookery first, I heard about this movie after reading reviews about it's influences. A decent movie in it's own right, but when you compare it to God of Cookery, I just like Stephen Chow better ^_^. The cooking scenes were good, and the plot wasn't bad either. I'd still give this movie 7 out of 10.

Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: MrBooth
Date: 10/21/2001
Summary: Weak first half hour, but settles down into a great movie

THE CHINESE FEAST: Tsui Hark comedy about cooking. The first half hour was very confusing and random (teeny tiny subtitles didn't help), but it all basically served to get Leslie Cheung working in a restaurant where the owner is challenged to a competition to make the grand "Han Feast", an 18 course banquet made of ultra-rare ingredients that only a few chefs in the world are capable of. The movie has a *lot* in common with GOD OF COOKERY (which came later), and is just as good a movie (after the first half hour). Tsui Hark directs a good comedy piece, with very stylish cooking sequences and good performances from the cast. Needs a better DVD release some day!


Reviewed by: Sydneyguy
Date: 10/17/2001
Summary: ok'ish

i was disappointed with this movie, especially sinc we most reviewers talks abot how good it is!!
I couldn't get into the movie, though at the beginning i thought this movie has a lot of potential. I ended up not caring much about the characters a dn wasn't Vincent Zhao's voice dubbed or something, when he can speak mandarin anyway?? And then the movie ends, and i am left thinking, is that all??

4/10

Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: alienlord
Date: 04/29/2001

A farcical comedy about a master-chef who loses his sense of taste, and must prepare the most delicate dishes in China for his wife in a competition against another cocky chef, of course Yuen and Cheung tag along adding welcome humour to the serious parts of the film. Finally a HK comedy film that will appeal to all audiences. ***/4

Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: MadMonkey
Date: 12/09/1999

Leslie Cheung as a Triad juvie turned wannabe chef! Anita Yuen as the rebellious daughter of a brilliant restaurateur! A cooking contest like you've never seen, featuring the dishes of the fabulous Qing Han Banquet--elephant trunk, bear paw, monkey brain, and a host of grotesque sounding appetizers! When Anita's dad falls ill, she and Leslie must find the greatest chef in the world--played by Kenny Bee--to fill in for him in cooking the contest banquet, or see her dad's restaurant stolen by an evil rival. GREAT cooking scenes, some very, very funny physical humor, and Anita in a stellar cute, spunky performance. A must-see, and apparently quite a successful flick in its HK release.

(4/5)

Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: hkcinema
Date: 12/08/1999

It's not an action movie, but a wonderful screwball comedy with asports movie structure. Our heroes: a proud restaurant owner with a heart condition, his rebellious daughter, and a former loan shark who wants to go straight (Leslie Cheung) look for China's greatest chef after the restaurateur is challenged by an evil chef to the ultimate cooking contest. If he loses the contest -- to cook the Han Qing Imperial Feast for only the third time in history -- he loses the restaurant. The cooking sequences are a riot, set up with all of the energy and tension of a climactic kung fu battle or Western shootout. And, like Tampopo, don't see it on an empty stomach!

[Reviewed by Anonymous]


Reviewed by: hkcinema
Date: 12/08/1999



(3.5/5)



[Reviewed by Brandon S. Ou]


Reviewed by: spinali
Date: 12/08/1999
Summary: NULL

Leslie Cheung is the scion of a triad family, and Anita Yuen (who just about steals the show) a teenybopper with multicolored hair who bounces around like a super-ball; together, they try to rehabilitate a sodden chef so he can win a cooking competition and thus save a prominent HK restaurant from a hostile takeover. It's very funny (and a little dumb), but nowhere else will you see delicacies like Bear Palm with Sturgeon Sauce, and Monkey Brain Soup with Shark Tooth Powder. Yum, pass the veggie pot-stickers.

(3/4)



[Reviewed by Steve Spinali]

Reviewer Score: 7