The Wedding Banquet (1993)

To satisfy his nagging parents, a gay landlord and a female tenant agree to a marriage of convenience, but his parents arrive to visit and things get out of hand.

Director:

Ang Lee

Writers:

Ang Lee, Neil Peng

Stars:

Winston Chao, May Chin, Ah-Lei Gua

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 12 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ah-Lei Gua	...	Mrs. Gao (as Ah-Leh Gua)
Sihung Lung	...	Mr. Gao
May Chin	...	Wei-Wei
Winston Chao	...	Wai-Tung Gao
Mitchell Lichtenstein	...	Simon
Dion Birney	...	Andrew
Jeanne Kuo Chang	...	Wai-Tung's Secretary
Paul Chen	...	Guest
Chung-Wei Chou	...	Chef
Yun Chung	...	Guest
Ho-Mean Fu	...	Guest
Michael Gaston	...	Justice of the Peace
Jeffrey Howard	...	Street Musician
Theresa Hou	...	Female Cashier
Yung-Teh Hsu	...	Bob Law, Wai-Tung's Old Friend

Storyline

Simon and Wei-Tung are a gay couple living together in Manhattan. To defer the suspicions of Wei-Tung's parents, Simon suggests a marriage of convenience between Wei-Tung and Wei-Wei, an immigrant in need of a green card. When Wei-Tung's parents come to America for the wedding, they insist upon an elaborate banquet, resulting in several complications.

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Plot Keywords:

marriage of convenience | gay couple | gay son | marriage pressure | asian man white man relationship | 

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Taglines:

A little deception at the reception.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.

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Goofs

During the small family dinner to which Simon treats the newlyweds and Wei-Tung's parents, Simon can be seen to alternately hold chopsticks, a small bowl or nothing in his left hand, depending on the camera angle.

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Quotes

Mrs. Gao: [about Wei-Wei] What do you think?
Mr. Gao: She'll make a lot of babies.

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Connections

Referenced in Kicking and Screaming (1995)

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Soundtracks

The Wedding Banquet

User Reviews

Wedding Banquet is my all-time favorite

The Wedding Banquet was the first Ang Lee film that I watched. I remember I was about 10 or 11 years old when I watched it. At that time, I did not understand the movie at all. However, as I grow older, I watched it again and I realized what a masterpiece that Ang Lee had accomplished. Coming from the same background, as Taiwanese immigrant to the United States, I can certainly relate many of issues with the protagonist Wai-Tung. My parents are exactly like Wai-Tung's parents. They have high expectation of the son and carry on the family name is the most important thing. Ang Lee did a very good job on depicting the traditional father figure in Taiwanese society. My father, very much like Wai-Tung's, is a very serious person. To him everything has to be done straight and upright. My mother on the other hand is very sentimental. She would just cry like Wai-Tung's mother in the movie. Taiwanese mothers always care for their son so much that they literally do everything for their son, just like how Wai-Tung's mother sets up a blind date for him. My parents are so serious that sometimes if I joke about me liking a man they would get upset. Therefore, I really can understand how Wai-Tung has to hide his secret for such a long time in the movie.

I like how Ang Lee uses Wai-Tung to represent Taiwan; Wei-Wei to represent China, and Simon to represent the US. In the movie, there is one scene where Wei-Wei wears a red dress in the air port picking up Wai-Tung's parents, I just could not help myself but laugh at the expression that Wai-Tung's dad gives when he sees Wei-Wei. He must think her as another communist he fought in the Chinese civil war. Another fascinating thing about this movie is that I watched it again in my film study class and even the movie is in mandarin, my classmates seem to understand the messages and laugh about them. I guess it is the magic of the movie. It really can transcend time and languages. Overall, Wedding Banquet has became my all time favorite of all the Ang Lee films.

Details

Country:

Taiwan USA

Language:

Mandarin English

Release Date:

4 August 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Wedding Banquet

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn Bridge, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$134,870, 8 August 1993

Gross USA:

$6,933,459

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$6,933,459

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ang Lee Productions, Central Motion Pictures, Good Machine

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1