The Wedding Banquet (Xi yan)

1993

The Wedding Banquet (Xi yan)

Critics Consensus

Ang Lee's funny and ultimately poignant comedy of manners reveals the filmmaker's skill across genres.

87%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 8,240

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Movie Info

A gay New Yorker stages a marriage of convenience with a young woman to satisfy his traditional Taiwanese family, but the wedding becomes a major inconvenience when his parents fly in for the ceremony. Director Ang Lee came to international prominence with this warm-hearted comedy, which centers on the farcical confusion that emerges from this deception. Gao Wai Tung (Winston Chao) has never shared the truth about his sexuality with his family, and hopes to disguise his long-term relationship with his lover Simon by marrying Wei-Wei, a young artist who's only it for the green card. But Wai Tung's parents refuse to let him off the hook easily, showing up to plan a massive wedding banquet. Indeed, much of the film's comedy springs from the contrast between the sheer lavishness of the parents' plans and the sham nature of the wedding. Naturally, the titular party spins out of control, leading to a series of events that threatens all of Wai Tung's relationships. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

Rating:

R
Genre:

Art House & International, Comedy, Drama, Romance, Gay & Lesbian
Directed By:

Ang Lee
Written By:

Ang Lee, James Schamus, Neil Peng
In Theaters:

Aug 4, 1993 wide
On Disc/Streaming:

Jun 15, 2004
Runtime:

111 minutes
Studio:

Good Machine

Cast

Winston Chao
as Wai Tung

May Chin
as Wei Wei

Mitchell Lichtenstein
as Simon

Sihung Lung
as Mr. Gao

Ah-Leh Gua
as Mrs. Gao

Tien Pien
as Old Chen

Neal Huff
as Steve

Michael Gaston
as Justice of the Peace

Jeffrey Howard
as Street Musician

Anthony 'Iggy' Ingoglia
as Restaurant Manager

Dion Birney
as Andrew

John Nathan Turner
as Joe

Patricia Sullivan
as Mariane

Jeanne Kuo Chang
as Wai Tung's Secretary

Mason Lee
as Child Jumping on Bed (uncredited)

Ang Lee
as Wedding Guest

Chung-Wei Chon
as Chef

View All

News & Interviews for The Wedding Banquet (Xi yan)

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Critic Reviews for The Wedding Banquet (Xi yan)

All Critics (28) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (27) | Rotten (1)

A very adroit and entertaining social comedy.

Apr 4, 2012 | Full Review…

Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Top Critic
Most of this is smoothly done and scripted with plenty of incident.

Feb 23, 2012 | Full Review…

Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic
Never patronising his characters, Ang Lee combines comedy, both subtle and raucous, with acute social asides.

Jan 26, 2006 | Full Review…

Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Top Critic
It is the unusual film comedy in which the humor springs as much from character as from situation.

May 20, 2003 | Rating: 4/5

Stephen Holden
New York Times
Top Critic
The Wedding Banquet never becomes bogged down by its own seriousness. Lee manages to keep the production buoyant by including scenes that are often riotously funny.

Jan 1, 2000 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

James Berardinelli
ReelViews
Top Critic
A sweet, perceptive story about the cost of deception and the power of family rituals.

Jan 1, 2000 | Full Review…

Megan Rosenfeld
Washington Post
Top Critic
Melodrama, rather than comedy, prevails. But at last, The Wedding Banquet becomes surprisingly satisfying, as it reaches its humane and sweet final course.

Apr 17, 2018 | Full Review…

Malcolm Johnson
Hartford Courant
By balancing comedy and drama and focusing on real solutions to real problems, Lee creates a film that pulses with the feeling of real life.

Jan 16, 2018 | Rating: B+ | Full Review…

James Plath
Family Home Theater
Lee sustains the bubbling hilarity, but also provides quieter, deeper observation of the characters' motives and moods.

Apr 4, 2012 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

TV Guide
This tale of a marriage of convenience charms and amuses with strong comedic performances with a great script and some beautifully shot sequences.

Apr 4, 2012 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Colette Maude
Empire Magazine
Cultural clashes all over the place in this sweet and gently comedy.

Apr 4, 2012 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Kim Newman
Empire Magazine
Lee's control of his characters is already pretty masterful: this is a smart, funny and moving work.

Apr 4, 2012 | Full Review…

Film4 Staff
Film4

View All Critic Reviews (28)

Audience Reviews for The Wedding Banquet (Xi yan)

Nov 10, 2011

I thought this was a really good movie dragged down with needless melodrama in the last 25 minutes or so, poor English dialogue (and some corny subtitles for Mandarin during the melodramatic moments), pacing being hit and miss, and just an overall poor performance from Winston Chao. Other than that, this movie is quite good. There's some funny scenes in the movie, but if it was supposed to be hilarious then I never got it, other than the banquet scene, which was entertaining but also went on too goddamn long. The movie has a good story that had the potential to be better than it really was. Everything in this movie just feels like a missed opportunity. It's a massively disappointing movie since it just doesn't stand the test of time, especially compared to some of Ang's later films. But again, it's still a good movie, just one I wouldn't exactly recommend.

Jesse O Super Reviewer
Jun 27, 2011

Good but dated. Ang Lee did a great job directing and the script is strong.

Sunil J Super Reviewer
Oct 30, 2009

The best of Lee's Taiwanese Trilogy!!

Sylvester K Super Reviewer
Apr 08, 2009

Ang Lee s romantic comedy drama The Wedding Banquet was about a gay Wai Tun,living in New York and son of a traditional Taiwanese family, who had never told his family the truth about his sexuality.He agreed to marry Wei Wei a young artist who did this only for the green card and for his family so they would never found out he was gay . Everything, as common in comedies, became complicated when his family arrived in New York for the wedding. The Taiwanese culture was quite funny and here you could experience traditions which were not yours in a funny way. Ang Lee is a great director and this romantic comedy he gave the messages about honesty and acceptance. It was a very enjoyable movie with some funny scenes but also some sad ones.

Daisy M Super Reviewer