Asia Society presents Water and Oil: The Movies of Ang Lee; a complete retrospective from February 14-23 with select appearances by the filmmaker and collaborators.
The Wedding Banquet
Ang Lee, US/Taiwan, 1993, DCP, 106 min.
In English and Mandarin with English subtitles.
Digital Restoration.
A problem that could be solved by simple honesty is driven to screwy comedic heights when gay New Yorker Wai-Tung Chin (Winston Chao) initiates a sham marriage with his greencard-seeking tenant Wei-Wei (May Chin) to appease his conservative Chinese parents. Mr. And Mrs. Chin announce a surprise visit from the mainland upon hearing the news, forcing Wai-Tung's boyfriend Simon, who suggested the marriage scheme in the first place, to pose as Wai-Tung and Wei Wei’s landlord, and all three of them to enact a farcical charade that climaxes with an elaborate wedding banquet. Lee reunites with Pushing Hands actor Sihung Lung (who would also go onto appear in Eat Drink Man Woman), who once again serves as the filial anchor in this, the second of the “Father Knows Best” trilogy. Over thirty years later, The Wedding Banquet feels ahead of its time not only as an Asian American story, but as a complex queer film that offers radical ideas about what a family unit might look like.
Water and Oil: The Wedding Banquet
Host/s
Sun, Feb 16, 11:00 AM - 01:00 PM (EST)
To be shared on approval
40 attendees
Asia Society presents Water and Oil: The Movies of Ang Lee; a complete retrospective from February 14-23 with select appearances by the filmmaker and collaborators.
The Wedding Banquet
Ang Lee, US/Taiwan, 1993, DCP, 106 min.
In English and Mandarin with English subtitles.
Digital Restoration.
A problem that could be solved by simple honesty is driven to screwy comedic heights when gay New Yorker Wai-Tung Chin (Winston Chao) initiates a sham marriage with his greencard-seeking tenant Wei-Wei (May Chin) to appease his conservative Chinese parents. Mr. And Mrs. Chin announce a surprise visit from the mainland upon hearing the news, forcing Wai-Tung's boyfriend Simon, who suggested the marriage scheme in the first place, to pose as Wai-Tung and Wei Wei’s landlord, and all three of them to enact a farcical charade that climaxes with an elaborate wedding banquet. Lee reunites with Pushing Hands actor Sihung Lung (who would also go onto appear in Eat Drink Man Woman), who once again serves as the filial anchor in this, the second of the “Father Knows Best” trilogy. Over thirty years later, The Wedding Banquet feels ahead of its time not only as an Asian American story, but as a complex queer film that offers radical ideas about what a family unit might look like.