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ARCHIVE

10th(2008)



Nyonya\'s Taste of Life

WEN Chih Yi

  • Taiwan
  • 2007
  • 79min
  • Digi-beta
  • color
  • µå¶ó¸¶

SYNOPSIS


Nyonya is the name given to daughters who are born of the ethnic Chinese and native Indonesians, and also the name of dishes harmoniously integrated with Indonesian food and Chinese food. It would be wonderful if various ethnicities and cultures could achieve harmony like Nyonya dishes, but real life is quite a different story. This film follows the story of Cindy, a Malaysian woman who takes care of an elderly person; Sally, another Malaysian woman who works as a maid for a family that runs a restaurant; and a Thai man, who have all come to Taiwan to lead a better life. The film deals with the issues of conflict and reconciliation arising from differences in social status, ethnic background, culture, and language. The director focuses on the labor of female migrant workers, who take on the emotional workload of the household in addition to the physical workload. Cindy thoroughly understands the elderly individual, who are isolated and deserted by their offspring and tends to their emotions, while Sally brings vitality to the restaurant with Nyonya dishes and also develops a relationship with the restaurant¡¯s owner, who has become listless after the death of his wife. However, all of these efforts of Cindy and Sally who try to communicate and be understood are not successful. The lives of the Taiwanese have been improved by sharing the work and emotion of them, but the Taiwanese frequently cut off understanding of and communication with them. (CHO Hye-young)
 

PROGRAM NOTE


Nyonya is the name given to daughters who are born of the ethnic Chinese and native Indonesians, and also the name of dishes harmoniously integrated with Indonesian food and Chinese food. It would be wonderful if various ethnicities and cultures could achieve harmony like Nyonya dishes, but real life is quite a different story. This film follows the story of Cindy, a Malaysian woman who takes care of an elderly person; Sally, another Malaysian woman who works as a maid for a family that runs a restaurant; and a Thai man, who have all come to Taiwan to lead a better life. The film deals with the issues of conflict and reconciliation arising from differences in social status, ethnic background, culture, and language. The director focuses on the labor of female migrant workers, who take on the emotional workload of the household in addition to the physical workload. Cindy thoroughly understands the elderly individual, who are isolated and deserted by their offspring and tends to their emotions, while Sally brings vitality to the restaurant with Nyonya dishes and also develops a relationship with the restaurant¡¯s owner, who has become listless after the death of his wife. However, all of these efforts of Cindy and Sally who try to communicate and be understood are not successful. The lives of the Taiwanese have been improved by sharing the work and emotion of them, but the Taiwanese frequently cut off understanding of and communication with them. (CHO Hye-young)
 

Director

  • WEN Chih YiWEN Chih Yi

    She has Master¡¯s Degree from Cheng Chi University in Taiwan. Her films include My Rehearsing Marriage (2003), which won Taiwan Section¡¯s Jury Special Prize in the Taiwan International Documentary Festival and The Spell of Cosplay (2004).

Credit

  • ProducerTSENG Han-hsien
  • Cast FANG Mok Ai, Nitasari, CHEN Chia-hsiang
  • Screenwriter WEN Chih Yi
  • Cinematography HUANG Tien-jen
  • Editor CHEN Po-wen, CHEN Hisao-jing
  • Music CHENG Jeffrey
  • Sound LIU Agnes