It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

The story of The Wedding Banquet (1993) is an engaging cross-cultural movie about Wai-Tung, his five year secret lover Simon, and the demands of marriage placed on Wai-Tung by his parents. In the typical "living a lie" plot device fashion, Wai-Tung stages some larger than life lies by marrying one of his tenants, Wei-Wei, who just happens to be in need a of a green card. By arranging this whirlwind marriage, Wai-Tung hopes to avoid being set up by his parents, but ends up making matters worse through his web of lies. His father's ailing health factor's into the difficulty of the situation as he fears that news of his true identity would be his father's end. The lie perpetuates, things get sticky through this dramedy romance. I enjoyed this film as it exemplified the Asian American cross cultural lifestyle. The writers were Ang Lee, Neil Pang, and James Shamus. The strengths in the writing are that the film was tasteful and respectful and still managed to be comedic. The film was directed by Ang Lee and one of its greatest strengths is that it was a $750,000 film that looked like it had a larger budget. There was nothing terribly fancy about the editing, it had a very natural feel to it. The cinematography was the only thing that I felt could have been improved in this film. There were many parts of the film where the lighting was scant or not really well adjusted in post. All in all, I enjoyed the film and would recommend it to a friend.

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!

This is the earliest film from the respected and great Taiwanese director Ang Lee that seems to be available in the U.K - even then it seems only on VHS or as a Korean import (which is how I got mine.)Why that is so is beyond belief and credibility - The Wedding Banquet is a warm, universal and fine film about what Lee does best - people and relationships. Cross cultures and cross sexualities add dynamism and colour and more than hint of later films such as The Ice Harvest and (of course) Brokeback Mountain.You don't have to be gay, or otherwise, or anything in particular, other than being human to appreciate the story and its characters - a 20 something gay Taiwanese man living with his boyfriend in New York and whose far-away mother is spending all her time setting him up with a possible wife. The obvious and gleeful scenario set-up when for the sake of convenience a Chinese girl that he knows is after a Green card Mother (and ex Commander with high-blood pressure Father) decide to visit for 'the $30,000 wedding banquet', that friends and relatives back home have donated for this gift of a lifetime, that the film's title is dedicated to.This, we juicily anticipate and we are definitely not disappointed, except with a master story teller that we obviously have here, the twists are unexpected and superbly done; so naturally that even the predictable parts are done with flair and of course, aren't so straightforward.So many lesser films on this subject are flaunted at us seemingly daily - here is a finely crafted movie, but one that, perhaps thankfully, is lighter and more humorous than some of Lee's later works. I won't carp on (again) about its relative unavailability but would say that if you want to see more of Lee's work, specially his 'pre-fame' era and want a humane, touching and often funny film, grab it with both hands if you ever get the chance.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the production values, much less the acting in the film. And, to a degree, the inter-cultural difficulties that move the plot are sometimes - though, in my opinion, not very often - rather droll. What it lacks utterly is a believable script.First of all, by way of explanation - perhaps - I haven't liked a single film by Ang Lee that I've seen so far (4 now), with the single exception of SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, and that had a great deal more to do with Emma Thompson's Oscar-winning screenplay than Lee's direction.I don't know what the "issues" Lee has with homosexuality, as such, might be, but there is simply no question in my mind and experience that the psychology of THE WEDDING BANQUET is flawed right down to the ground. THE central incident that drives the plot forward -- (SPOILER: **i.e., Winston Chao's acquiescing to May Chin's extremely importunate eliciting of a physical relationship** -- ES) -- could only have been written and directed by someone who doesn't have clue one about how virtually any gay man caught up in that kind of situation is going to react. Therefore, I do not think it unfair to opine that the ENTIRE plot is based -- apart from a few cultural quiddities about gay men in a traditional and/or homophobic society coming out -- on a false presumption; accordingly, the whole film becomes an exercise in mere twaddle: If your main plot reversal/complication is based on a psychologically invalid director's "I want it this way," then you have a tremendous flaw right at the heart of the script and -- old but true words -- you don't have a script, no matter how good everything else is, you just don't have a good film! And how can anyone think some gay person, male or female, knuckling under to cultural and tribal traditions and shibboleths is the stuff of comedy??? Literally millions of gay people have been and continue to be forced to compromise their lives and hearts and desires to fit into their cultures; this is scarcely funny; it, far more often, eventuates in emotional exile, mental illness, violence and, not infrequently, great tragedy.EDITORIAL COMMENT/POSSIBLE SPOILER: *This film is THE film that has made me dread Lee's directing BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (not yet released), the short story by Pulitzer winner Annie Proulx. With his clearly demonstrated lack of understanding and/or issues with "gay" sensibilities, I dread it.*