Mr. Chu is an elderly widower who teaches tai chi chuan in Beijing. He moves to America to live with his son's family, but finds the cultural adjustment difficult. Since his daughter-in-law is a white woman who does not speak Chinese, Mr. Chu's son, Alex, must mediate.
Acting
Lung Sihung's stillness speaks entire monologues.
Direction
Lee's kitchen-table compositions are devastatingly precise.
Writing
Every awkward dinner scene cuts like a knife.
Director
Ang Lee
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Lee shot this in his own Westchester home; the claustrophobic interiors are literally his lived experience of the 'father knows best' trilogy he never made.
The 'pushing hands' metaphor runs deeper than the title—Mr. Chu's tai chi practice becomes the film's visual language for yielding without surrendering, a strategy he ultimately fails to transfer to family life.
TW
