It was with a mild feeling of apprehension that I recently sat down to watch Ang Lee’s 1993 film ‘The Wedding Banquet’. The reason for the apprehension was that it was a film that I’d seen at the cinema on it’s release, and which I’d absolutely loved. I loved it so much, in fact, that I returned to the cinema to see it again; and then I returned to watch it a third time! It was a film that I found both very moving and very funny; it got under my skin and affected me in a way that few films do, and it instantly became one of my favourites, and Ang Lee a director to look out for.

That was back in 1993, when I saw it at Manchester’s Cornerhouse; and until last week I’d never seen it again since. It’s been a film that I’ve looked out for over the years, but I was never able to track down a copy. And the longer I went without seeing it, the more I built it up in my mind. Above all the other films that I saw in my youth, this was the one that I wanted to see again, this was the one that I remembered as being a forgotten classic, a neglected masterpiece. It took on an almost mythological significance for me; which is why I was a little nervous about finally being able to see it again – after all that time, after building it up to something so big in my mind, with it being so replete with wonderful memories, could watching it now be anything other than a crushing disappointment? How could the reality of the film possibly live up to what my memory had transformed, and possibly elevated, it into over the intervening eighteen years? Basically, would the reality of the film viewed now in 2011 live up to the memory I had of it, or was I heading for a major disappointment by watching it again?

It’s happened before, this feeling of anticipation followed by disappointment. There have been several films that I have revisited in recent years that knocked my socks off when I first saw them in the 90s, but which, viewed though older eyes, failed to impress me in the same way today. I just hoped that The Wedding Banquet wouldn’t be one of them.

So, what’s the film about?

The plot is reasonably straightforward, although I’ll probably make hard work of describing it! Wei-Tung is a Taiwanese immigrant living in New York, and involved in a seemingly very happy, long-term relationship with his partner, Simon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, back in Taiwan, Wei-Tung’s parents, who have no idea about their son’s sexuality, are constantly applying pressure on him to marry, have children and continue the family name. His mother enrols him in a dating agency and picks out potential partners for him.

 

 

Meanwhile, one of Wei-Tung’s tenants, Wei-Wei, a struggling artist from mainland China, is desperately in need of a green card.

 

 

 

 

Together they hatch the plan – it is actually Simon’s idea – for Wei-Tung and Wei-Wei to marry, thus getting his parents off his back, and getting her a green card.

What could possibly go wrong?

Well, rather a lot as it happens. Wei-Tung’s parents are naturally delighted that their son is getting married, so much so that they insist on flying to America to attend the wedding; and the wedding celebrations, which were initially planned as something low-key, under their guidance turn into a huge wedding  banquet with hundreds of guests invited.

With Wei-Tung, Simon, Wei-Wei and Wei-Tung’s parents, Mr and Mrs Gao,  all living together in the same house, and with the parents staying in America for longer than they had initially planned, relationships start to get strained and emotions fraught as the three main protagonists struggle to keep up their respective roles, and cracks start to develop. What started out as a light comedy develops into something altogether more moving and heart-rending.

So, that’s what the film is about; and viewing it again, eighteen years after I first saw it, how did it hold up? The answer to that is: very well indeed. I loved it just as much now as I did back when I first saw it in 1993. The anxiety I felt before watching it was unnecessary: The Wedding Banquet is every bit as good a film as I remembered it being. It is an absolutely wonderful film.

There are many, many things that make this film great. There’s a lightness of touch in Ang Lee’s writing and direction that draws you in; it’s an accessible and, certainly in the early stages, a very funny film. You’ll be sure to laugh when, early in the film, Wei-Tung relents to pressure from his mother to join a dating agency, and he and Simon have some fun filling out the forms. They try to list impossible requirements for a potential partner. She must be an opera singer. Six feet tall. And have a Phd. No, make that two Phds. Despite this, the agency does find a suitable match – although she only has one Phd, which they hope won’t be a problem.

What makes this film great, though, is how well-drawn the characters are. Ang Lee is brilliant at getting under the skin of his characters and conveying the emotional truths of their inner lives; and he does this in such a light, subtle way – a few words spoken here, a fleeting reaction shot there. The cumulative effect is that as the film progresses the characters develop in a very satisfying way, and your heart starts to bleed for these people – all of them. Each of the major characters is portayed as a real flesh and blood human being, each going through their own emotional journey. Wei-Tung is struggling with the fact that he is lying to his parents about his sexuality and his sham marriage. Simon is struggling to cope with the unexpected strains that his well-meaning plan has put on his relationship with Wei-Tung. Then there are the parents, Mr and Mrs Gao, whose arrival on the scene sparks the clash-of-cultures, east-meets-west theme at the heart of the film. You witness their intense delight at their son’s marriage, but you know it’s all a sham, and you feel for them too.

And then there’s Wei-Wei. When I first saw the film all those years ago, it was her story that was somehow most resonant for me. The emotional kicker to this entire story is that she genuinely feels for Wei-Tung, but she knows that he is gay and that she can’t have him; yet she is forced to live out the charade of being his wife. There are moments in the film when you see her pain, isolation and loneliness – moments that I find heartbreaking. And on top of all this, there’s the guilt she feels at deceiving Wei-Tung’s parents – she is embraced into the bosom of the family and treated like a daughter by them.

As the film progresses each of the characters is locked in their own bubble of pain, which probably makes it sound like a heavy, depressing experience – but it really isn’t. It is an emotional, very moving film, but rather than being a turgid, depressing experience, Ang Lee’s lightness of touch, and the film’s richness of character, makes it feel like a cathartic and ultimately life-affirming experience. I think it is a truly beautiful, heartfelt film.

Ok, you could argue that there’s a little woodenness to some of the dialogue, but hell, I love this film so much I’d forgive it anything. And it is interesting to see what dates a film: for the most part, the film has aged very well, but there is one scene early in the film where Simon gives Wei-Tung a present – a mobile phone. Given that this film was released in 1993, so probably filmed in 1992, you can imagine what the mobile phone looks like: a huge cumbersome black thing with a rubber aerial sticking out of the top of it. It looks silly. Of course, that’s not a failing of the film, it’s just how technology has advanced over the years.

For my money, Ang Lee has never made a better film than The Wedding Banquet. There’s a fair chance that you’ve never seen it, because as far as I’m aware it’s never had a video or DVD release in the UK, which is a crying shame. This film deserves to be far better known than it currently is, and if you get a chance to see it then do! It is genuinely a film that will make you both laugh and cry – no matter how hardened you think you are, I defy you to have dry eyes at the end of it! Yet despite being put through the emotional wringer, you will come away from it feeling uplifted and enriched by the experience.  I love it, and for all its low-budget indie feel, and some arguably clunky dialogue, it remains, just as it was back in 1993, one of my favourite films.