The Chinese Feast

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The Chinese Feast is a 1995 Hong Kong film starring Leslie Cheung, Anita Yuen, Kenny Bee, Law Kar-Ying and Tsui Hark. Tsui Hark himself directed this Lunar New Year comedy.

[edit] Plot details

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Kit (Kenny Bee) was a master chef who once raked in many accolades as being the finest Chinese cook. An elite cooking competition had placed him enviably in front of many aspiring colleagues and he seemed to have the world at his feet. However, it was during the competition which placed him in a dilemma of conflicting interests of the heart- his own craft or the woman whom he loves.

His obsession (and persistently stubborn attitude) with his work confirmed that he did not appear to hold his girlfriend in the special regard she would have love to possess and she decided to dump him after he failed to be by her side in a moment where she needs him the most (she was about to conceive their child at the same moment as he was about to participate in an important and prestigious cooking contest). Realising then that career success can only best be shared with a beloved other and also that he loves her very much, he regretted bitterly and in his solitude, turned to alcohol for comfort from the traumatic separation. His career diminished and he was quickly forgotten. To further compound problems, his sense of taste appeared to have left him due to his constant drunken stupor and he became morose and unsociable.

Elsewhere, a popular Chinese restaurant in Hong Kong owned by Au (Law Kar-Ying) was approached by an organisation 'Super Group' who wishes to merge all major Chinese restaurants into a powerful group and to eliminate all opposition in Asia. Au protests and the Super Group supremo throws down a challenge to cook the legendary 'Qing Han Imperial Feast' whereupon the if Au loses the competition, his joint would be absorbed into the Super Group indefinitely.

Au then enlists the assistance of former triad member rookie chef Sun (Leslie Cheung) who aspires to be a top chef and had worked at Au's restaurant wishing to shed his criminal past together with Au's daughter Wai (Anita Yuen). After several foiled attempts at preparing even a simple dish, they then realised the futility of their initial efforts as the Feast could only be accomplished by a master chef and their limited cooking skills would be of no use if they were to save their establishment.

It would then be unquestionably up to Sun and Wai to travel to China to seek the once-famous Kit and to engage his valuable services in order to salvage the integrity of their restaurant.

Once there, the duo managed to catch up with Kit but not after several comedic attempts. Although they were able to convince Kit to join forces with them after much persuasion (they were to help him to be reunited with his wife), the former great chef was still in a drunken state most of the time and proved unhelpful, at least at first. After much practice, Kit was able to improve but it would be still not enough to prepare for the Feast.

Still, during the tournament proper where the contestants were to prepare rare and luxurious dishes, Kit was able to recapture his previous glories and ultimately saved Au's restaurant after a closely fought contest. The movie would eventually end on a happy note as is the theme of all Lunar New Year movies.