Eat Well — A Song of Love and Hate

Watching the movie brought to mind Babel's Red Cavalry, Salinger's Nine Stories, and Bob Dylan.

Clearly, it is an excellent anti-war film; I found myself choking up several times along the way.

Not long after the beginning, a casual, careless promise made by a father is questioned by his daughter: "Didn't we agree you'd come back once a year?" "Do you know how expensive plane tickets are? I'll be back in a couple of years."

In reality, most people become like this as they grow older, as if the more they talk, the less they care about the weight of their words, revealing a sense of giving up on themselves. Promises look less and less like promises; the word has almost lost its intended meaning. I don't like it.

Xu Fu is that common positive image of a northern Chinese man—rough-and-ready, skilled, hardworking, and rarely showing his true inner emotions. Meanwhile, Junsheng is almost an idealized character: brave, upright, kind, intelligent, devoted, and loving.

The transition from restaurant chef to partner stemmed from a war. Relying on an exclusive liquor license, they also made a fortune from the war. — Humans seem to find it hard to realize what they truly want; sometimes even when they have reached their destination, they still refuse to stop, and so they wander further and further.

Orphans who lost their parents in the war, soldiers executing combat plans locally, foreigners desperately trying to make money, and local government officials not supported by the US military are all in this restaurant, showing every side of the war.

The foreshadowing of what happens to Old Zha was laid early on; this key turning point should be where the movie begins to express its stance on war.

To the American soldiers who believe those orphans are born terrorists, their own family and friends lost their lives in various terrorist attacks. So even for a fully armed American soldier, seeing the gaze cast by an orphan immediately activates their psychological defense mechanism, making it impossible to remain rational.

Orphans who lost their parents in the war serve delicious food to customers, including these soldiers, in a battlefield restaurant. However, at the slightest spark of conflict, the gunpowder of hatred in their hearts is instantly ignited without reservation.

Their hatred is absolutely real.

Time and again, Saif is pulled back from the edge of the abyss by Xu Fu and Jun Sheng. Every time Saif says he understands, they say: "You don't understand crap." Xu Fu and Jun Sheng lived through the war, but they are not parties to it. This makes the bond between them and Saif all the more pure; Saif truly understands this, which is why he would save them, even at the cost of his own life.

Aside from the help Lao Zha provides in business, Lao Zha's love for his daughter also touches Xu Fu, who places his own family's photo in front of him every time he eats. Making the food Lao Zha's daughter loves and that simple "open your mouth" while feeding Lao Zha is Xu Fu's way of expressing his feelings, and Lao Zha understands it too.

These acts of love are all real, too.

Terrorists use hatred education and religious beliefs to brainwash ignorant, innocent children. Children growing up amidst chaos and hatred will be misled even if they only overhear it. Had he not seen with his own eyes a familiar person being sent away as cannon fodder—when he himself had set off thinking he would become a hero of the resistance—Saif would probably have found it hard to realize what was driving him.

The ignorant, naive heart of a child can be shrouded in a black veil by the instigation of hatred, but sincere love can naturally lift it away. Smelling the delicious risotto, they will happily say how good it smells. But when an adult willingly places their soul in endless hatred, the role that sincere love plays is simply—"open your mouth."

This world can be roughly divided into two: one is the world in the eyes of those who control the apparatus of violence, where interests are paramount, and personal emotions, including life, are just accessories even if they are considered. The other world is the world of each of us ordinary people, which is full of love, hatred, passion, and enmity. Fortunately, we can make our own choice.