Father Knows Best

Before making Oscar-winning films such as Brokeback Mountain, Taiwanese director Ang Lee directed three films that explore the culture clash between East and West and between different generations in three warmly human stories with comedic flair, a big heart and a detailed sense of observation that doesn’t judge. The screenplays of The Wedding Banquet (1993) and Pushing Hands (1991) won first and second place in a Taiwanese screenwriting competition and together with one of cinema history’s best foodie films, Eat Drink Man Woman (1994), they are collectively referred to as the Father Knows Best trilogy, even if the stories are not otherwise related. They do all contain a Taiwanese father figure played by extraordinary veteran actor Sihung Lung, who brings a zen-like gravitas to his conservative patriarchs often out of their depth in a changing world. A lot of the comedy is subtle; even the name, Father Knows Best, can be read in two ways. Does it reinforce the idea that the old ways are the best, or is father really a know-it-all who should get with the programme? In all three films, Ang Lee leaves the answers to the audience.