The Wedding Banquet

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The Wedding Banquet ★★★Xiyan; Hsi Yen 1993 (R)

Charming story about a clash of customs and secrets. Naturalized American Wai Tung (Chao, in his film debut) lives comfortably with his lover Simon (Lichtenstein) while hiding the fact that he's gay from his Chinese parents. To appease his parents and get his “wife” (Chin) a green card, he marries for convenience and watches as the deception snowballs. Comedy of errors was shot on a small budget ($750,000) and examines small details with as much care as the larger ones. A fine effort from director Lee that's solidly humorous, but also poignant. In English and Chinese with subtitles. 111m/C VHS, DVD . TW Winston Chao, May Chin, Mitchell Lichtenstein, Sihung Lung, Ah-Leh Gua, Michael Gaston, Jeffrey Howard; D: Ang Lee; W: Ang Lee, Neil Peng, James Schamus; C: Jong Lin.