The Wedding Banquet
Director: Ang Lee Run Time: 107 min. Format: 35mm Rating: R Release Year: 1993
Starring: Winston Chao, Mitchell Lichtenstein, Lung Sihung, May Chin, Ya-lei Kuei, Tien Pien
Brokeback Mountain may have changed LGBTQIA+ cinema’s place in the mainstream in 2005, but Ang Lee has long been fascinated with the codes of masculinity, tradition, family, and queerness. For his 1993 romantic comedy The Wedding Banquet, part of his “Father Knows Best” Trilogy, Lee looked back to the ingredients of classic screwballs and farces for the modern New York tale of a gay interracial relationship that’s foisted back into the closet when the family of the Taiwanese half comes to visit. Co-written with longtime collaborator James Schamus and Neil Peng, and starring Winston Chao, Mitchell Lichtenstein (director of Teeth), and Lee mainstay Lung Sihung, The Wedding Banquet is a bracingly funny and tender look at the imperfect path to love and happiness in the new world.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Beginning with early trailblazers like Different from the Others, Kyle Turner has selected 100 of cinema’s greatest queer films to guide you through the eras. From Hitchcock’s Rope and cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show through the New Queer Cinema movement of the 90s to the present day, where LGBTQIA+ narratives have increasingly made their way into the mainstream and dominated award seasons with films like Carol, Tangerine, and Moonlight.
From scrappy auteurs to Academy Award winners, The Queer Film Guide celebrates LGBTQIA+ stories and artists, offering a fresh take on what defines great cinema. Lending a voice to the diverse creators and characters who have shaped the artform, The Queer Film Guide is also a useful resource for people interested in discovering or exploring queer film for the first time.