The Wedding Banquet (Xi yan)
MGM/UA (1993)
Comedy, Drama, Queer Themes/Interest, Romance
In Collection
#489
8*
Seen ItYes
(8/30/2017 Home)
883904291640
IMDB   7.6
108 mins USA / English
DVD  Region 1   US - R
Michael Gaston Justice of the Peace
Sihung Lung Mr. Gao
Winston Chao Wai-Tung Gao
Ya-lei Kuei Mrs. Gao
May Chin Wei-Wei
Mitchell Lichtenstein Simon
Dion Birney Andrew
Jeanne Kuo Chang Wai-Tung's Secretary
Chung-Wei Chou Chef
Ah-Lei Gua Mrs. Gao
Paul Chen Guest
Yun Chung Guest
Ho-Mean Fu Guest
Jeffrey Howard Street Musician
Theresa Hou Female Cashier
Yung-Teh Hsu Bob Law / Wai-Tung's Old Friend
Jean Hu Guest
Albert Huang Guest
Neal Huff Steve
Anthony Ingoglia Wei-Wei's Employer
Eddie Johns Haskell
Thomas Koo Guest
Chih Kuan Granny Tien
Robert Larenquent Hispanic Man
Neal Lee Waiter
Mason Lee Baby
Director/Choreographer
Ang Lee
Russell Costanzo
Producer Ang Lee
Michael Clancy
Li-Kong Hsu
Sui Je Cheng
Dolly Hall
Writer/Composer Ang Lee
James Schamus
Neil Peng
Russell Costanzo
Cinematography Jong Lin
Music Mader
Daniel Brewbaker


A Taiwanese-American man is happily settled in New York with his American boyfriend. He plans a marriage of convenience to a Chinese woman in order to keep his parents off his back and to get the woman a green card. Chaos follows when his parents arrive in New York for the wedding.
Edition Details
Original Title Xi yan
Distributor MGM Home Entertainment
Release Date 2004
No. of Discs/Tapes 1

Notes
While The Wedding Banquet follows the traditional format of a zany comedy, it is also a story of the cost of deception and the power of family and ethnic rituals·
• Thank goodness for the magical American green card - it has put steak on the table and helped a generation of filmmakers to be "in the money"·
• Depiction of queer-straight weddings in films have been around for a long time (as have green card marriage themed films)· What is somewhat unusual in The Wedding Banquet is that while the excesses of the Taiwanese wedding (or Jewish, or Italian, or …) are satirized, the customs are also treated with sensitivity and seriousness·
• There is a tendency today to view marriage as little more than a second-stage hook-up, just a bit more complicated than simply picking up one's clothes from the floor of the bedchamber and walking out the front door at one's pleasure, but not much more· As the silliness of the marriage banquet fades, the seriousness of the afterward rears itself· The protagonists come to the realization that cultural tradition, ritual and norms matters not only to family and community, but to themselves personally· Not to be a spoiler (this is after all a comedy), it all works out ok - pretty much so anyway· Cynic that I sometimes am, the writers have left some sequel hooks though; you are left wondering how this and that are going to work out·
The Wedding Banquet has been around for quite a while, and it has pretty much stood the test of time· If you haven't seen it, and are looking for lighter fair, search it out.