Soul of a Banquet

This doco by Hong-Kong American filmmaker, Wayne Wang, explores the life of legendary Chinese-American restaurateur, Cecilia Chiang. The majority of the film is in the form of interviews, which work to tell the story of Cecilia's journey from pre-war China, through the Japanese occupation, narrowly escaping the Communist Revolution before eventually establishing a restaurant in San Francisco. The focus throughout these stories is food, cooking and tradition, how they were lost or maintained through such tumultuous times. The film ends with a traditional Chinese Banquet being prepared and eaten, which looks delicious and helps convey the importance of the traditions around cooking.

This is a very simply constructed documentary. There are only three interviewees and limited footage of food beyond the final banquet. Compared to the travelogue style cooking shows so common on TV, this seems almost cheap. However, the stories and insights are rich enough to overlook the shortcomings. Definitely a worthwhile experience.