The Wedding Banquet
|
List Price: Our Price: $3.98 You Save: $11.00 (73%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of The Wedding Banquet
Movie Review: The Gifts of Deception ...
Summary: 5 Stars
Ang Lee creatively uses the conventional social mores and cultural behaviors associated with a traditional Taiwanese family along with their expectations of a good life for their number one son and compares and clashes them with the modern gay lifestyle which the son has kept secret from his family. This is one major comedy where surprises and deception continually arise to keep the viewer laughing and enjoying the events that unfold throughout. The film is jam packed with subtle and direct playful scenes by the director which reveal Chinese cultural expectations for a proper married life which contrasts with the freedom of expression (both verbal and sexual) allowed and experienced in the West. Ang Lee shows the viewer he is sympathetic to both sides of the issue. His film is outstanding and unique. It is a one-of-a-kind film which only a person of his background and understanding could have made.
Gao Wai Tung (the number one Chinese son) arranges a marriage of convenience at the suggestion his lover of over 5 years, Simon, to help out a female artist, Wei Wei from Taiwan, just so she can attain the green card to stay in the USA. When his parents hear of their only son's marriage, they arrive in New York and are highly disappointed with the arrangements the couple made for a civil ceremony. They plan an elaborate wedding celebration which is filled with numerous comedic twists and turns that revolve around the secrets and deception associated with their son's gay lifestyle. A Taiwanese/Chinese wedding is filled with hilarity and games and the married couple must go along with it all ... The biggest surprise is when Wei Wei announces to Gao Wai that she is pregnant. A grandchild is one of the most cherised gifts that Chinese parents look forward to from their offspring, yet this unexpected outcome of a drunken wedding night complicates the lives of both the gay couple and Wei Wei in unimaginable ways. This surprise creates the need for more deception and secrets that must be kept from Gai Wai Tung's parents. It is an amazing set of events that transpire which helps resolve this major dilemma in an already complicated state of affairs. Ang Lee manages to wrap up the ending to this film in a most satisfying manner with more surprises than any viewer could possibly anticipate! This is one hilarious comedy on a highly unusual but modern subject. Ang Lee managed to break down barriers, plus enlighten and entertain all at the same time! Erika Borsos [pepper flower]
Movie Review: Don't pidgeonhole this fabulous film ...
Summary: 5 Stars
about being gay, coming out etc etc .... This is a great movie about relationships, love of family, maturity etc etc and it just so happens that the main character is gay.
The fact that he is gay and how he copes with trying to keep that secrest from his parents who live in Taiwan is the beauty of this film and the story. Ther are no hidden messages or points of view the director is trying to push except for telling a great story ....
Our young architect hero living with his partner is being pressured into getting married to PLEASE produce an offspring for the retired army general father. He finally is forced to agree with his mother to consider an arranged marriage and she send the forms to him where he describes the kind of woman he would marry. OK, so he lists that he is looking for a tall, blong haired blue eyed Chinese girl that is a nuclear physicist with a Phd and also a classical opera singer .... Now ay .. right
Wrong ... next thing a girl shows up exactly what he ordered .... BUT ... shes in love with someone else and doesnt want to married off either ...
After rejecting the girl, our hero decides he has to do something and they fake a wedding with one of his Latin renters ... the plan being the parents come .. they fake the wedding .. the parents go and his and his lovers life can get back to normal ....
I don't want to give away the story but, as mentioned the film is great great great ...Ang Lee the director is incredible. One tiny little note there are some kissing scenes, that were pretty shocking to me a non gay, so be preared. Those scenes though were not gratuitous and were very necessary to show the comittment the two gay lovers had to each other and show their happy and very unquestioned love for each other ....
This is an unforgettable film ....
Movie Review: Outstanding
Summary: 5 Stars
The first Ang Lee film that I saw was "Crouching Tiger". I didn't realize that he had directed films as varied in theme as "Sense and Sensibility" and "The Ice Storm", both of which are excellent films. In some respects, I found "The Wedding Banquet" to be the most accessible and intimate of his films that I have seen. It's certainly the most humorous. The plot has been summarized by other reviewers, and in lesser hands it could easily have turned the film into a cliche. Given that the film appeared in the early 1990's, it could also have look dated to viewers in 2004. However, this film is not dated and it's not a cliche. Instead, it's a warm-hearted (but never maudlin) look at the importance of family, cultural heritage, and the difficulty of leading a hidden life, even when your relatives live on the other side of the world.
Much of the dialogue is Chinese (with English subtitles), but this is one of those rare films where I quickly became accustomed to the subtitles and they did not interfere at all with my enjoyment of the movie. The fact that the Chinese characters actually spoke Chinese made the film more believable.
Ang Lee's talent for visual composition is apparent throughout the movie. It's filled with scenes of real beauty, which is not always the case with comedies. Too often, movie comedies are shot as if they were widescreen TV sitcoms. That's not the case here. The production values are consistently high, so much so that I was surprised to discover during the DVD featurette that it was a low-budget film.
This film is fun to watch, with excellent acting and outstanding direction.
Movie Review: I loved it!
Summary: 5 Stars
Living in New York with a well-paying job, a nice home, a stable relationship with Simon (Mitchell Lichtenstein), everything appears to be going Wai-Tung (Winston Chao)'s way. But his Taiwanese parents are expecting a traditional marriage with kids and grandkids -- and he hasn't told them that he's gay.
Meanwhile, Wei Wei (May Chin), a carefree and capricious artist living in a building owned by Wai, has to find a way to acquire a green card or be deported. A solution to both quandaries is proposed: a marriage of convenience. The preparations are made, and everything seems to be going according to plan until Wai's parents arrive from China to plan the wedding banquet.
This is a movie that cares more about the story and its characters than making comedy, adn although there are some scenes that are hilarious, The Wedding Banquet never takes itself too seriously nor does it give way to slapstick and gags just for gags' sake.
Ang Lee demonstrates a extraordinary ability for portraying a objective view of issues while avoiding the snare of cliches and stereotypes. All the characters have their own unique personalities and live and breathe on their own.
The actors are all excellent and the film is well made and I just loved it!
Movie Review: Well Worth Owning
Summary: 5 Stars
The Wedding Banquet received little attention when it was first released and for years was unavailable on DVD. Fans of director Ang Lee won't be disappointed with a look at his first film.
This tightly plotted story revolves around a Taiwanese-American businessman. He's handsome, successful, and in a committed relationship. Yet he can't introduce his love to his parents - not because his love is a blond American but because his love is a man. Our hero isn't ashamed of being gay. Yet his father has a heart condition, his parents are conservative, and he is their only son. The pressure to get married increases as he turns thirty.
Most of the film is madcap comedy culminating in a full scale Chinese wedding banquet. In one traditional game guests line up to kiss the blindfolded bride on the cheek. Where the goal is to identify her husband, she mistakenly picks a ten-year-old boy. The story shifts to serious drama without missing a beat. This isn't a gay tale or a Chinese-American tale: it's a human tale. Ang Lee gets superb performances from a cast of unknown actors.
If you enjoy uncovering little known film gems then this should make a good discovery to share with friends.