Pushing Hands (1991)

What we have here, is a failure to communicate*

Pushing Hands was director Ang Lee’s first full length film. It was also the first in what critics have affectionately termed the “Father Knows Best” trilogy. Lee’s first three films (unrelated) focused on conflicts between modern children and their traditional fathers, all three films starred Lung Sihung as a father in the middle of familial tension. While entertaining, I found this film to be the weakest of the three.

The Chu family household has been set on edge ever since Alex’s seventy-year-old father moved into their home a month prior. Chu senior speaks no English and Alex’s wife, Martha, speaks no Mandarin. The young grandson, Jeremy, has been taking Chinese lessons after school and understands some of what his grandfather says. The wife and father-in-law are basically in a cold war. Mr Chu’s very presence disturbs Martha so much that she has developed writer’s block and has been unable to progress on her second book. One need not speak English to understand her irritated body language and hostile words. Alex ends up listening to both of their complaints at the dinner table, often at the same time, with English in one ear and Mandarin in the other. Mr. Chu is a tai chi master and teaches a class at the local continuing education facility while his grandson takes his Chinese class and Alex plays basketball. One evening, the Chinese cooking teacher, Mrs. Chen, purposefully moves her class into his large room in order to meet the older gentleman. Both discover that they are living in difficult family situations that are heading to a boil.

I struggled with the core conflict of this film with the open hostility Martha showed Mr. Chu. She mentioned that Alex barely spoke of his father for seven years and then “Boom! One month ago, this shows up on our doorstep.” Alex told his father it was his plan all along for him to come live with them. It sounds like he never brought that up with Martha. This is the type of conversation that needed to happen as the father’s arrival would have required some planning and cooperation. Martha’s work space could have been modified for more privacy and she could have taken evening classes with her son to better be able to speak with her FIL. Alex bringing his father over and hoping for the best left his father feeling alienated and his wife feeling resentful.

The film focused on a variety of gaps-language, cultural, generational, and modern vs traditional values. Mr. Chu might have been home and with family but it did not feel like home. Alex had videotaped Taiwanese movies for his father to watch, most of which he was uninterested in. Only the Chinese Opera appealed to him which decidedly did nothing for Martha’s frayed nerves. Mrs. Chen gave Mr. Chu someone he could relate to which both exasperated children used to try and manipulate to their advantage. The older people felt useless and isolated, unwanted in their children’s homes. In a land of material wealth, there was no room for them. As with his other father films, Ang Lee managed to salvage relationships even if they were still damaged. Parents and children grudgingly learned to adapt and find a way to balance their expectations and bonds. And there were those who learned the hard way to not mess with a seventy-year-old tai chi master. Not one of Ang Lee’s strongest films but still quite watchable.

4 June 2026
*Headline note: Quote from Cool Hand Luke
Golden note: 1991 Golden Horse Best Actor Award for Lung Sihung and Best Actress Award for Lai Wang. The acting for these two was significantly stronger than much of the rest of the cast.
Paternal Note: The three Ang Lee “Father Knows Best” films: Pushing Hands, The Wedding Banquet, and Eat Drink Man Woman.

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Part 1 of Director Ang Lee trilogy on "Father Knows Best"

Director Lee’s trilogy ("Father Knows Best") in bringing together family members to create tension and tender comedic moments shine in this trio of Pushing Hands (1991), The Wedding Banquet (1993). and Eat Drink Man Woman (1994).

The movie begins with senior Mr Chu (Lung Sihung, who is in all three of this trilogy) trying to pass his day without getting in the way of his daughter-in-law Martha Chu (Deb Snyder, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0811438/), who is suffering physical and psychiatric problems after her father-in-law has lived with her and her husband/his son Alex Chu (Wang Bo Zhao) for only a month.

Neither senior Mr. Chu or Mrs. Chu are really trying to do anymore than "tolerate" each other. Mrs. Chu doesn't eat right and she cannot tolerate his Chinese traditional movies, and senior Mr. Chu spends his time "Pushing Hands" Tai Chi and watching traditional Chinese movies without headphones and getting on his daughter-in-law's nerves, causing her writer's bloc on her second book.

Junior Mr. Chu is stuck in the middle, trying to see both of his loved one's viewpoint but doesn't have the time to do any more than 'referee' his Significant Others' relationship with each other; he has worked hard in college and also now in his job to provide for his family and to bring his father (senior Chu) to America after years of his father's working hard to get him, his son, through college. He believes in his filial piety of caring for his father in his father's old age.

Caught in the middle of the adults' love-hate triangle is senior Mr. Chu's grandson, Jeremy Chu (Haan Lee) who only sees glimpses of the three adults interacting in the afternoon after school and on weekends. He misunderstands his grandfather's diagnosing people with his ancient Chinese techniques, thinking he is hurting them instead.

A couple of unrelated incidents causes Mr. Chen to try to set his father up with another older Chinese lady, who escaped to Taiwan with her former husband after the Communist takeover of the mainland.

Mr. Chu, realizing his effect on his son's household, takes off for NYC and gets a job and small apt here. I will let you find out what happens next when you watch the movie.


I love this movie since Ang Lee likes to place "twists" near the end of his movies, changing everything around; you know nothing about what is going to happen until director Ang Lee pulls his switch-a-roo on you!\

The main characters are believable in their roles, especially junior Mr. Chu, who becomes more troubled as his wife and father continue to butt heads together every day.

Support characters also pass themselves off as competent, adding depth to the developing main characters as they interact with them in this movie. Special mention should be made of the main female support actress, Wang Lai, who appears as Mrs. Chen a widowed cooking instructor at the Chinese neighbor center and 'wiggles' her cooking class into sharing the gym where senior Mr. Chu's Tai Chi classes are being held!

I had already seen the last two parts of this 3-part series and both of them have plot twists near the end: Ang Lee did not fail me here,, as this movie also has a plot twist that changes everything you thought you knew about what might happen next!

The music is really good, being used as a segway in some places; also, the cinematography is great as well: you find yourself in a world by and for Chinese expats where young professional Chinese are able to live the American way but still hold on to many of the traditional Chinese values that they want their children to obtain and imparted by their older relative expats.

My only complaint is that it would had been a '10' movie had Mr. Lee had invested in more time (ie, longer movie) telling us about the main characters, letting us see why certain things happened the way they did.

All in all, I recommend all three of these movies if you ever have time, love family movies or love plot twists near the end!

I have already watched other films by Ang Lee, including the last two of this trilogy an others; I just wasn't aware of his being their director or how talented his directing was!

This movie may be watched as a separate movie or as a part of Ang Lee's trilogy; either way, it is a great movie that should make Ang Lee proud for decades to come!

It is available for free online.

Re-WATCH VALUE: Definitely!

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