Customer Reviews

The Wedding Banquet [VHS]

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I still remember how surprised I was when I saw this movie. Back in the early 90's PC was at it's peak, in addition gay was inextricably linked to AIDS. So imagine my shock when I go to see this movie, a hilarious, touching, movie that gives a wonderfully accurate view of one gay relationship. A couple, one American, one from Taiwan have been together in NYC for years. The Taiwanese man's parents do not know he is gay so keep trying to sign him up for membership in all of these very expensive singles clubs. One of the best scenes is when he and his boyfriend are filling out the application and putting down traits his ideal woman that they think will be impossible to fullfill, "two PHD's, an Opera Singer, speaks 7 languages, ect.." It gets even better when the letter from his parents arrives saying "We've found her" This could have degenerated into a slapstick movie, especially when the parents want to come out to NYC, to throw their son a wedding but it was a Superbly done movie that kept you laughing all the way through. If you have loved any of Ang Lee's Other movies, Sense and Sensibility, Crouching Tiger Hidden Draggon, Eat Drink Man Woman, you will wonder how you've gone so long without seeing this gem. In addition it received an Oscar Nomination for best foreign film "No Subtitles, it is in English" I have loaned this movie out more times than I can count and always have a difficult time getting it back. My only wish is that more gay movies were this high quality.

I originally saw this movie in a theater in 1993 and at that time thought it was excellent. I've seen so many movies since then and have developed a liking for low-budget, indie films because the slick Hollywood films are polished beyond real life.

What a pleasure it is to see The Wedding Banquet again after all these years. I have to say it's very different from most new gay themed movies coming out today. First and foremost there is almost no male nudity. I'm sure if current films would try to get away with no male nudity.

For a movie that seems to benefit from lots of money and production values, nothing in the way of the story was lost. This is an excellent film depicting the life of a gay couple in 1993. It's about a culture clash between the growing openness of America vs. the unknown (to me) Asian cultures.

It is both a sweet love story and a dramatic film about a couple dealing with parents. I think in the end all the characters in the film ended up with more than they ever hoped for. There was honesty about being gay. There was help for an immigrant wanting to stay in the US and a gay couple was about to become parents....

A Taiwanese man, living in the U.S with his partner, is quite happy until a certain problem arises: his parents have decided to visit him and his girlfriend. Why is this a problem? Well, for one thing, he doesn't have a girlfriend. He has a boyfriend, who is also white. Some people just insist on making their lives complex don't they? And so with the assistance of his friend - a Taiwanese girl who's an illegal immigrant, he attempts to solve two problems at once. If he marries her, then she can stay in America and he can keep up the pretense to his parents that he's straight. Simple, huh? Well no. The parents arrive in time for the all-important wedding banquet, and our hero finds himself doing something to his new wife that he never thought was possible. From the director of Eat Drink Man Woman this is a lovely film that is really quite funny and yet delivers serious drama, with more than competant acting.

A truly excellent film, the story begins with a happy gay couple, one American born and one from Taiwan living together in a US city.
When the old fashioned parents of the Taiwanese man continue to
pressure him to marry, he arranges a fake wedding with a young Chinese girl in need of a green card.
His parents travel to the US for the wedding, and the pressure builds as the deceit threatens to fall apart.
The pressure, complications, treachery, and energy wasted in concealing the truth all build to a potentially tragic climax.
Finally the elderly Chinese father teaches everyone involved
the true meaning of Family Values.
The most meaningful movie I have ever seen, my all time favorite.

This movie was a surprise for me. I attended a film class with a friend and came away with a new favourite. This film doesn't just give a spectacular view of a Gay man's trials and triumphs in love; it also depicts the relationship between Father and son as they attempt to bridge the generation gap. It's delightful when we finally realize that the Father has been one step ahead of his son the entire way. There's also a happy ending which is realistic enough to be satisfying and not too fairy-tale like. What I'd really like is a DVD of this movie, with some extra's. Maybe a commentary? Some interviews with the actors? I'm more likely to look for actors' movies than directors, but with Ang Lee I don't care who the actors are, I really enjoy his work.

I just finished watching this and came away thinking this was one of the best movies of this type I have ever seen!
Without going into the storyline...the film has a lot of subtitles since it is mostly Chinese speaking. But this only gives you an appreciation for the frustration of the lover who knows little chinese, and of his being part of a charade to fool your lovers aging and ill parents [which includes watching him kiss and marry someone else!]
This film brings up all kinds of issues, such as gay acceptance, is lying ever good?, personal responsibility, growing up, abortion, respect, committment....
And the wonderful thing is, it doesn't try to answer any of these. You come away sorta happy, kinda sympathetic for everyone, and rather sad that, in the year 2004, going to these sorts of lengths to hide who you really are is not so uncommon in real life!

I first saw the WEDDING BANQUET upon initial release, and I revisited it again recently. A bit more sophisticated in its' human observations, it's a film that has grown stronger with time's passage.

Lee emerged as an independent filmmaker (an alum of NYU, along with the likes of Spike Lee and Jim Jarmusch, who also emerged from the school during the 1980s), and his earliest films were a great indication that independent filmmaking could tackle complex themes, surpassing Hollywood standards, and still connect meaningfully with audiences.

Lee also may be ahead of his time as a globally focused filmmaker - also evident here. With an unusual knack for balancing cultural specifics (and how they fit into individual lives), and broader universal elements, Lee handles cultural clashes, and assimilation wonderfully - WEDDING BANQUET features some of the most entertaining riffs on such themes (the justice of the peace wedding scene is definitely a classic comic moment) to have graced the big screen. To varying degrees, these themes have surfaced in some fashion in all of Lee's films (also notably in EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN, and it's US remake TORTILLA SOUP); here they are at their most charming.

Overall this film was marketed as something like a gay-themed update on the classic Hollywood "screwball comedy" genre, which it isn't exactly - WEDDING BANQUET moves at a slower pace, and has its' share of humor, but also offers an abundance of very thoughtfully crafted drama. Like EAT DRINK (and also ICE STORM), Lee is very skilled at shaping relationships, and zeroing in on poignant insights within even the bad moments, and in many ways this film stands as one of his finest.

-David Alston

(...)P>Story revolves around Wei Tong (played by Winston Chao), a very attractive 30 something chinese american living in the NY. He seems the prefect marriage material for any girl execept when he calls home, it's "Simon, will be home before 6pm!"

He's gay and happily attached to the dashing American boyfriend Simon (played by Mitchell Lichtenstein. So what's the problem... Mum and Dad in Tawian wants grand wedding and a grandchild and they will do anything to find him the perfect match.

(...).

Ang Lee takes a humours approach towards the film but never deters from the storyline of "do we live to please our parents or for ourselves".

Buy it and I'm 150% you'll laugh, cry and love the movie!

"The Wedding Banquet" is a rather moving film by Ang Lee that starts out as a comedy and moves on to become an insightful study of the complex relationship that is family.

Ting Gao [Winston Chao] is a thirtysomething Taiwanese immigrant who lives in New York, where he has a real estate business. He seems to be heavily subsidized by his wealthy family back home. His Mom and Dad are constantly pushing him to get married. Why can he not grant his father's fondest wish to become a grandfather? Ting can't do his parents' long distance bidding because he happens to be gay. He lives happily with a nice guy named Simon [Mitchell Lichtenstein]. The very American and liberated Simon is wise enough to see that cultural differences prevent his lover from admitting the truth. The deception is no problem until the folks announce their imminent arrival in New York. The boys come up with a plan. Ting will marry their friend Wei-Wei [May Chin], who happens to need a green card anyway. The parents will arrive, Wei-Wei and Ting will marry in a civil ceremony, the family will leave, and life will return to normal. All goes according to plan until an old family acquaintance shows up and insists on giving the bride and groom a lavish, old-fashioned Chinese wedding banquet. The plan then hits some serious snags.

"The Wedding Banquet" is actually a Taiwanese movie shot on location in America. At least half of it is in Chinese, which will irritate anyone who despises subtitles. For everyone else, though, the movie will be a treat. It is more than an interesting study of cultural differences. It is great portrait of a remarkable family, one in which love ultimately redeems everyone, even if truth and reality get rearranged in the process.

I watched this film the other day for the first time in about 10 years and it still touched my heart. As a Chinese growing up in the U.S, I can understand how cross-cultural differences can really take a toll on one's life. Ang Lee did a great job because he is truly one of the few directors out there who I feel puts a lot of real emphasis on character development. The film did a great job of focusing on people's individual expectations, and the means by which people would go in order to live up to those of their parents'.

I was lucky enough to talk to Ang Lee at a film discussion last year. I told him that the Wedding Banquet was one of my favorite films of all time, and he seemed appreciative of that, because he felt he took a lot of care in developing the essence of character conflict and tension. This is definitely a movie worth adding to one's collection.