The Wedding Banquet (Xi yan) 1993

The Wedding Banquet

Critics Consensus

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

96%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 28

100%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 5

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Movie Info

Wai-Tung (Winston Chao) and his boyfriend (Mitchell Lichtenstein) live happily as a gay couple in New York City. Wai-Tung has not been open about his sexuality with his Taiwanese parents (Sihung Lung, Ah-Leh Gua), and decides to acquiesce to their wish for a traditional Chinese union by marrying Wei-Wei (May Chin), a struggling artist desperate for a green card. But the simple arrangement turns into a lavish debacle when Wai-Tung's parents plan an extravagant wedding banquet.
  • Rating:
    R (Language)
  • Genre:
    comedy
  • Original Language:
    Chinese
  • Director:
    Ang Lee
  • Producer:
    Ted Hope, Ang Lee, James Schamus
  • Release Date (Theaters):
     wide
  • Release Date (Streaming):
  • Box Office (Gross USA):
    $6.9M
  • Runtime:
  • Production Co:
    Good Machine, Central Motion Pictures Corporation
  • Sound Mix:
    Stereo, Dolby Stereo
  • Aspect Ratio:
    Flat (1.85:1)

Cast & Crew

Winston Chao
Wai-tung
May Chin
Wei-wei
Mitchell Lichtenstein
Simon
Sihung Lung
Mr. Gao
Ya-lei Kuei
Mrs. Gao
Tien Pien
Old Chen
Ang Lee
Director
Ang Lee
Writer
Neil Peng
Writer
James Schamus
Writer
Dolly Hall
Line Producer
Ted Hope
Producer
Li-Kong Hsu
Associate Producer
Feng-Chyt Jiang
Executive Producer
Ang Lee
Producer
James Schamus
Producer
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Critic Reviews for The Wedding Banquet (Xi yan)

All Critics (28) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (27) | Rotten (1)

  • A very adroit and entertaining social comedy.

    April 4, 2012 | Full Review…

    Jonathan Rosenbaum

    Chicago Reader
    Top Critic

  • Most of this is smoothly done and scripted with plenty of incident.

    February 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.

    January 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.

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

    James Berardinelli

    ReelViews
    Top Critic

  • The Wedding Banquet wins fans with its sunny disposition as it turns a contemporary story about a marriage of convenience into a deft bedroom farce and humanist drama.

    January 1, 2000 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review…

    Marjorie Baumgarten

    Austin Chronicle
    Top Critic
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
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