Eat Drink Man Woman

The traffic scene actually means the complicated situation in the family. The traffic situation looks messy even though the traffic police try to control the traffic. It might also represent the feelings of Mr Chu. He is the traffic police who tries to control the situation. There has no traffic police in the first scene, but there is a traffic police in the second scene. It might mean that the traffic police is Mr Chu. The tension of the family started to be mediated.

This movie can be analyzed by the sequence of the family dinner. Based on family theory, this family could be viewed as a unit. The interaction between any daughter and father actually influence another relationship. In the second family dinner, the unexpected decision and announcement of the youngest daughter, Jia-Ning, actually influence the decision process of others. In the first meal, the family is restricted in a repressive atmosphere. After the changes of Jia-Ning in the second dinner, all the things are starting to change rapidly.

In this movie, apparently we could see that the Mr Chu cares about the Jia-Chien the most. However, Jia-Jen is the one who really contribute to the family and their father. In her world, there are only three places where are church, school and home she get used to. She envies why her father puts so much attention on Jia-Chien, but not her.

The death of the mother has an impact. After the death of the mother, Jia-Jen started trying to play the mother’s role. She takes care of her father. She also tries to control and discipline Jia-Chien and Jia-Ning because of the role of a mother. 

At the end, the separation eventually brings harmony to the family. They finally feel peaceful even though they are not together. They do not need to restrain anymore.