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27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I pee'd my pants., February 18, 2002
This review is from: God of Cookery (DVD)
Wow! God of Cookery is one of the funniest flick I have ever seen. The tempo of the movie, the insanely clever dialogues, and the razor sharp parodies all add up to a great movie experience. Even though my wife does not speak Chinese, she thought it was wonderful. If you know Cantonese or something about Hong Kong cultural history, THIS IS IT! You will pick up subtle references that will bring back Hong Kong circa late 80's/early 90's. A Chinese movie that is finally willing to make fun of itself. No genre is safe: God of Cookery pokes fun at old gangster flicks, gambling flicks, the silly montages, Hong Kong soup operas, Iron Chef, martial art movies, politics, class, food, food, food...
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31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
about the ending, June 5, 2005
This review is from: God of Cookery (DVD)
I Just want to say something about the ending, which is absurd to some. Some previous reviews say that was beyond comprehension. I guess it takes a little more understanding about the Chinese mythology and traditional stories to comprehend that scene. In some Chinese myth, gods would sometimes be punished to go through normal men's life. The purpose sometimes is for them to gain experience and to understand and be able to correct their misdoings. It could also be that two gods hated each other be put on the earth as humans like you and I do without remembering they were gods and be tested in occassions similar to the quarells they have had in heaven when they were gods. This is often for them to understand "an eye for an eye" is not a proper way to solve the problem, which sounds quite an essential part to the Chinese, or maybe Buddist's philosophy, in my opinion.
But, anyway, Chow, the fat guy and the manager was somewhat like the gods that has been put on the earth. Chow was the God of Cookery. The manager was a dog in heaven - Yes. There could be animals in heaven too. But, of course, "God of Cookery" (the movie) did not explain why they were put on earth.
I hope this helps people who don't understand enough Chinese mythology to make sense of the ending of the movie. But, sadly, I realize and I agree many Cantonese jokes do not translate quite well to English.
I am form Hong Kong and, so, I understand everything very well. But the down side is that my English ability may not allow me to make my point.
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42 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
If you find yourself here because you loved Kung Fu Hustle..., September 15, 2005
This review is from: God of Cookery (DVD)
I was really taken by Kung Fu Hustle - I thought it was extremely unique and a whole lot of fun. After watching it, I backtracked and watched Shaolin Soccer. I enjoyed that movie as well, and then found myself on Amazon looking up other Stephen Chow movies. I found this one, and looked it up at my local video rental stores. No dice. So I went ahead and purchased it through Amazon. Now that I've watched it, I will say that I enjoyed it, but I didn't need to purchase it. If you can find some other means to see it, by all means do so. If the only way you can see it is by purchasing it, read on...
This is not a bad movie by any means. It's just not a movie that was made with a US audience in mind. And there's no reason it should have been - it was not released stateside like Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle were. Be that as it may, the English subtitles have been done by someone whose primary language is not English. And hey, that's not a bad thing. I'm sure that whoever did the subtitles did the best he or she could. Being a person who has tried to speak and write a foreign language myself, I can understand the task the translator had to take on. But the reality is this; for an American viewer who is counting on those subtitles to follow the story, a very literal and often times confusing translation is presented. I found myself constantly having to think "what does this actually mean?" For instance, does "fairy" really mean fairy? Or does it mean angel? Or does it mean ghost? Or (more likely) is there not a corresponding word in the English language that really conveys the true meaning conveyed in the movie's native language? By the time all of those thoughts run through one's head, a couple of other subtitles have already come and gone that you have not devoted that kind of thought to. In short, it can be a little hard to follow.
I also second the comments from some earlier reviews; the humor here is not as universal as it was in Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle. It seems to be very specific to the Chinese culture. Again, I understand that there is no reason it should be anything but what it is. I'm just trying to give "average Kung Fu Hustle fan" a heads up here.
What I found most fascinating about the movie (i.e. - the reason I did enjoy it at all) is the fact that this was a movie that I assume isn't the least bit self conscious of its culture - it just is what it is. Given that, it's arguable that something like this can be a more interesting look into Chinese culture than some National Geographic article or TV special like "CHINESE CULTURE: What it means to you!"
So in the end, if you're looking for another Shaolin Soccer or Kung Fu Hustle (and English is your native tongue), I would say that this movie IS NOT what you're looking for. But if you do watch it and are interested in peeking in at other cultures, you might come away with something else...
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