Taiwanese filmmaker Ang Lee (The Ice Storm, Hulk) had an international hit with his second film, The Wedding Banquet (1993), a sweet, intelligent, and somehow near-slapstick yet classical comedy of manners. Wai Tung (Winston Chao), a gay, urbane Taiwanese immigrant living with his life partner Simon (Mitchell Lichtenstein) in New York, tries to deflect pressure from his traditionalist parents to get married to a nice Chinese girl by agreeing to a sham wedding to an artist named Wei Wei (May Chin), who wants a green card, but the arrangement suddenly becomes much more complicated (and quite funny) when the groom's parents arrive for the ceremony. The ensuing shell game in this terrific film is highly entertaining, as is an unexpected twist in Wai Tung and Wei Wei's relationship that challenges everyone's perceptions about love and family. Debuting on DVD in an impressive anamorphic widescreen transfer, with a bonus interview with Lee and producer James Schamus, this is highly recommended. (T. Keogh)[Blu-ray Review—Sept. 19, 2017—Olive, 107 min., in English & Mandarin w/English subtitles, R, Blu-ray: $29.95—Making its debut on Blu-ray, 1993's The Wedding Banquet features a decent transfer and a mono soundtrack on the Blu-ray release. Extras include “A Forbidden Passion” behind-the-scenes featurette (20 min.). Bottom line: Ang Lee's ‘90s gay comedy classic makes a welcome debut on Blu-ray.]
The Wedding Banquet
MGM, 104 min., R, DVD: $14.95 Volume 19, Issue 4
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