gavin6942 To satisfy his nagging parents, a gay landlord (Winston Chao) and a female tenant (May Chin) agree to a marriage of convenience, but his parents arrive to visit and things get out of hand.Elisabetta Marino argued that "Lee's creative process and his final choice of two languages, Mandarin Chinese and English, for the movie are in themselves symptomatic of his wish to reach a peaceful coexistence between apparently irreconcilable cultures, without conferring the leading role on either of them." This is interesting, because I found myself not really relying on the subtitles, but seeing the humanity and emotion transcending the language, essentially making this more than a "foreign" film.Marino says the film suggests that there can be a reconciliation between Eastern and western cultures, unlike Amy Tan's novels where the cultural differences are portrayed as irreconcilable. I can certainly see that. At the very least, the gay couple is an Asian-Caucasian mix, and there seems nothing unusual about it. We also see how seamlessly a woman who cannot speak English is married by a justice of the peace... assimilation works!

rzajac I think it's fascinating that the earnings ratio for this flick was so high; this perhaps makes it one of the very best to point to when debunking the "big budget = better" assumptions among many film buffs.Loved it. It hits on almost all the key indicators: Visually beautiful, storyline solid as a rock, fine character development, generally fine acting, great music, well paced and edited, and timely themes with an overarching message which is both age-old and timeless: When worlds collide, you might discover that the experience can be one of delight rather than dread. Love, open-mindedness, and open-heartedness are operative factors capable of cracking time-honored, trans-generational assumptions.As if all this weren't enough, there's even a tender little bone thrown to the romantically inclined among us who feel that abortion is not a life-affirming option. If you're a pro-lifer--a *real* pro-lifer, not one who feels that life is sacred only until birth--watch this movie and have a hankie at hand.I guess I should flesh in my summary line allegation of early sluggishness. Not quite sure what it was. Maybe I actually had to sort of recover my sensibilities and let this movie unwind at its own pace. It might have had something to do with the male lead not being a trained actor, learning his chops as the filming proceeded. Not quite sure. You may find the first third (or so) of the film to be a bit slow. But hang with it: It's well, *well* worth the time and suspension of disbelief invested!One last observation: I live in Taiwan, so I found the capturing and capsuling of Chinese culture to be well done and nicely modulated (not over the top) for western audiences. I hope westerners out there can savor that.

ththla 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.

Gordon-11 This film is about a gay Chinese man having to bow down to parental pressure and marry a woman.IMDb lists this film as comedy. There are comedic scenes such as the post wedding party. Yes, the party is hardly an exaggeration, it is actually done according to the Chinese culture! However, I think The Wedding banquet is better be viewed as a drama. The plot of this film is probably the life story of many gay men of Chinese descent. It is simple, and yet truthful, realistic, touching and affecting.The main character, Wai-Tung, faces enormous pressure to get married. However, he is actually in love with a Westerner called Andrew. The film fully portrays the pressure Wai-Tung faces because of parental and societal pressure. It also displays how preaches acceptance and tolerance. The ending is so touching, and even months after watching the film, I can still remember the ending.This is an excellent film. For men who are in situations similar to Wai-Tung, The Wedding Banquet will resonate with them forever. Even if you are not in a similar situation, this film is so touching that it is a must watch!