Hua jiao zhi wei

The bright colours, the dragon dance, the funeral rites, the cooking scenes, the beautiful women, the melancholic, minimalistic scenes. It's generally very understated and subtle in terms of message and emotion, and I suppose that is also a reflection of its characters' inner lives and personalities. Things left unsaid, either from unwillingness or inability are a main theme of the movie. That's why the familial and romantic relationships suffer. It could also be a cultural thing, together with very loud displays of disapproval and even rejection as a twisted manifestation of love and care on the part of the older female generation. Of course towards the end there are some heart to heart scenes to heal wounds and build bridges and forgive and they may feel a bit out of character, but they are decent and somewhat natural compared to other movies that obviously force these things.

I loved the sisters and the fact that they are so different from each other in both personality and physique and that they have amazing and effortless chemistry and dad should have brought them together sooner. I was really judgy of him in the beginning but it turns out he wasn't just a horndog going from woman to woman. However, he did hurt them by not allowing them to be a real family together, especially since they felt so left out and estranged from their own mothers.

And really these actresses are phenomenal. And the movie deserves a lot more recognition. I guess it could be considered a feelgood movie, but also a very deep, heartwarming family drama. It takes a while to get to the feelgood part, but it does so gloriously.