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 & 9 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:

You are cordially invited to a wedding where everybody wants to kiss the bride... except the groom.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

As of 2018, in the 25 years since being discovered for The Wedding Banquet, Winston Chao has gone on to a distinguished acting career, including portraying Chinese statesman Sun-Yet Sen in five different film or television productions, and has also portrayed at least five different Chinese kings or emperors in five different productions.

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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

Justice of the Peace: Okay, now you: "I, Wee-Wee..."
Wei-Wei: Wee-Wee.
Justice of the Peace: "... take you, Wai Tung..."
Wei-Wei: Wee-Wee.
Justice of the Peace: Okay. "To be my wedded husband... to have and to hold..."
Wei-Wei: Holding to have, husband, mine...
Justice of the Peace: "... for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer..."
Wei-Wei: Better and richer, no poorer.
Justice of the Peace: "... in sickness and in health, till death do us part."
Wei-Wei: Till sickness and death.
[...]

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Connections

Featured in Century of Cinema: Yang ± Yin: Gender in Chinese Cinema (1998)

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Soundtracks

Madame Butterfly
Written by Giacomo Puccini

User Reviews

A GREAT LAIDBACK MOVIE!

I really loved this film, I knew nothing about it before I saw it and so was really surprised.

It's a great example of modern day life and combines so many issues of today - sexuality, cross-cultural life, tradition/modernity etc. But it's not a "gay" film and it's not a "foreign" film, it mixes these elements really well into a very typically Hollywood story. But it is also able to use them to comment on social stereotypes and grouping, but without blatantly doing so.

The characters are all very likeable and I really felt sympathy for the positions they were all in - a young man (Wai-tung) trying to please both his parents and his partner Simon, an illegal immigrant (Wei-wei) who wants to stay in America, and Wai-tung's boyfriend Simon trying his best to be accommodating and patient though feeling pushed out of the family.

The messages of this film about tolerance and honesty are not pushed in your face. It's a very easygoing film that is very funny in some places and sad in others. There are some subtitles and some is in English because we, the audience, must learn to integrate our own way of life with others, just like the people in the film.