Xi yan (1993)

Director:

Ang Lee

Writers:

Ang Lee (writer)
Neil Peng (writer)

Release Date:

4 August 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

A little deception in the reception.

Plot:

To satisfy his nagging parents, a gay landlord and a female tenant agree to a marriage of convenience, but his parents arrive to visit and things get out of hand.

Plot Keywords:

Pregnancy | Landlord | Painting | Restaurant | Scam

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 12 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Dion Birney	...	Andrew
Jeanne Kuo Chang	...	Wai-Tung's Secretary
Winston Chao	...	Wai-Tung Gao
Paul Chen	...	Guest
May Chin	...	Wei-Wei
Chung-Wei Chou	...	Chef
Yun Chung	...	Guest
Ho-Mean Fu	...	Guest
Michael Gaston	...	Justice of the Peace
Ah Lei Gua	...	Mrs. Gao
Jeffrey Howard	...	Street Musician
Theresa Hou	...	Female Cashier
Yung-Teh Hsu	...	Bob Law, Wai-Tung's Old Friend
Jean Hu	...	Guest
Albert Huang	...	Guest

Also Known As:

Si yan (Taiwan)
The Wedding Banquet (USA)

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

Taiwan | USA

Language:

Mandarin | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Philippines:R-18 | Iceland:L | Singapore:R(A) (cut) | Australia:M | Argentina:16 | Chile:18 | Finland:S | Germany:6 | Peru:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:Btl | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn Bridge, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Central Motion Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Director Cameo: [Ang Lee]a guest at the wedding banquet.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the small family dinner to which Simon treats the newlyweds and Wei-Tung's parents, Simon can be seen to alternately hold chopsticks, a small bowl or nothing in his left hand, depending on the camera angle.

Quotes:

Justice of the Peace: Okay, now you: "I, Wee-Wee...”
Wei-Wei: Wee-Wee.
Justice of the Peace: "... take you, Wai Tung...”
Wei-Wei: Wee-Wee.
Justice of the Peace: Okay. "To be my wedded husband... to have and to hold...”
Wei-Wei: Holding to have, husband, mine...
Justice of the Peace: "... for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer...”
Wei-Wei: Better and richer, no poorer.
Justice of the Peace: "... in sickness and in health, till death do us part."
Wei-Wei: Till sickness and death.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Kicking and Screaming (1995)

Soundtrack:

The Wedding Banquet

More Than Just a Comedy

The Wedding Banquet is marketed as a comedy, but it is more than that. Closer in plot and style to Green Card than The Birdcage it examines the personal consequences of deceit. The comedy is there of course, but so is much tenderness and pain as a marriage of convenience between a gay man and a woman deportee unravels. Like Green Card which had similar plotlines, the "obvious" resolutions do not appear so likely as the film progresses which adds to its attractiveness.

I recommend it highly.