I believe that anyone in my (post 80’s) generation who grew up on this side of the world would know Stephen Chow’s films inside out. My brothers and I used to stay up on Saturday nights for the 1030pm movie slot to watch films that range from the triad/police and thief type of films to repeats of Chow’s “Gambling King” 赌神 and range of very slapstick films. They were all funny and entertaining.
While I’m all grown up and have become somewhat more snobbish in my movie choices, God of Cookery 食神 brought me back to my childhood days, only that I found different elements to appreciate in this low brow humour flick.
Although the plot is predictable (the good guy always wins despite the odds), the characters all caricatures, the food scenes here are great—knife skills of a Chinese chef and the little nuances of Chinese cooking are all shot very well in this film. Despite the exaggerated kungfu demonstrations and inner strength fuelling of stove fires, the scenes shows the yin and yang of cooking, through the mixing of ingredients, that complement each other.
I’d recommend it for an idle evening to relax.
