Comparing Cultural Hybridity Through Sound: 'Eat Drink Man Woman' and 'Tortilla Soup' Anonymous College

How do films articulate familial connection and cultural heritage through music? In his 1994 film Eat Drink Man Woman, Taiwanese director Ang Lee examines issues such as patriarchal structures and the increasing independence of women, focusing on the cultural tensions in a Taiwanese family between a Chinese chef named Mr. Chu and his three daughters. Mr. Chu prepares traditional meals and attempts to reconcile conflicting values of Eastern and Western culture through conversations with his daughters. The film’s soundtrack features traditional Chinese music along with pieces that combine Chinese string instruments and Latin American rhythms, creating a sense of transnational accessibility. Contrastingly, María Ripoll’s American adaptation of Lee’s film centralizes a Latinx immigrant family to portray the complexity of Mexican American identity and cultural duality for the children of immigrant parents. The film uses a compilation soundtrack to integrate Caribbean influences and samba rhythms as well as frequent “Spanglish” dialogue.

My paper will follow a comparative analysis of significant scenes within the two films and their respective soundscapes to assert that Tortilla Soup shifts Lee’s original depiction of cohesive...