Director: Ang Lee
Runtime: 108 minutes
Country: Taiwan, USA
Language: Mandarin, English
Rating: R21
Awards
GOLDEN BEAR (Best Feature Film)
43rd Berlin International Film Festival
BEST FEATURE FILM
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR (Sihung Lung)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS (Ah-Lei Gua)
BEST DIRECTOR
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
30th Golden Horse Awards
Full Synopsis
Ang Lee’s breakout hit remains as modern, humorous, and insightful as its debut 20 years ago. The Wedding Banquet reconfigures the family unit around a paper marriage meant to shield Wai Tung’s gay relationship with his white American partner from distant parental scrutiny, whilst also helping out their tenant, a penniless painter in need of a US green card. When his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Gao announce a surprise trip from Taiwan to Manhattan, screwball hijinks ensue, culminating in the lavish traditional wedding banquet. The film’s clever ending rejects a pessimistic sense of permanent diasporic alienation in favor of an unconventional, far-from-perfect, but still reconciliatory family reunion.
This film is featured in the strand Tradition Re-framed, part of the Constellating Histories: Encountering Asian American Diasporas Onscreen programme. For the full programme lineup please click here.
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