WEDDING BANQUET (DVD/16X9/WS-1.85/1993/MAND/W-ENG-FR-SP SUB)-NLA DVD

The Wedding Banquet
A gay New Yorker stages a marriage of convenience with a young woman to satisfy his traditional Taiwanese family, but the wedding becomes a major inconvenience when his parents fly in for the ceremony. Director Ang Lee came to international prominence with this warm-hearted comedy, which centers on the farcical confusion that emerges from this deception. Gao Wai Tung (Winston Chao) has never shared the truth about his sexuality with his family, and hopes to disguise his long-term relationship with his lover Simon by marrying Wei-Wei, a young artist who's only it for the green card. But Wai Tung's parents refuse to let him off the hook easily, showing up to plan a massive wedding banquet. Indeed, much of the film's comedy springs from the contrast between the sheer lavishness of the parents' plans and the sham nature of the wedding. Naturally, the titular party spins out of control, leading to a series of events that threatens all of Wai Tung's relationships. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Cast Winston Chao as Wai Tung May Chin as Wei-Wei Mitchell Lichtenstein as Simon Sihung Lung as Mr. Gao Ah-Leh Gua as Mrs. Gao

Crew Michael Clancy - Costume Designer Ang Lee - Director Tim Squyres - Editor Jiang Feng-Chyi - Executive Producer Mader - Composer (Music Score) Steve Rosenzweig - Production Designer Jong Lin - Cinematographer Ted Hope - Producer Ang Lee - Producer Dolly Hall - Producer James Schamus - Producer James Schamus - Screenwriter Ang Lee - Screenwriter

The Wedding Banquet
Ang Lee's breakthrough film, The Wedding Banquet puts a different, multicultural spin on family and romantic comedy with winning results. Taking a low-key approach to a set-up that is potentially the stuff of slapstick farce, Lee still finds the humor as the intended marriage of convenience between a gay Taiwanese immigrant in New York and an infatuated female tenant in need of a green card is thrown into chaos by the arrival of the groom's proud parents. The elaborately staged eponymous party becomes a comically tense drunken mess, but the characters' underlying expectations and dashed hopes ultimately render The Wedding Banquet a subtle and sensitive study of Chinese cultural pressures (even on far-flown expatriates) and the ingrained homophobia that makes the burden of tradition even heavier. A film festival success and critical darling, The Wedding Banquet became an art house hit, and the New York-based Lee's first Best Foreign Film Oscar nomination. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
 

Ah-Leh Gua: Independent Spirit Awards, Best Supporting Actress (nominated) Ang Lee: Independent Spirit Awards, Best Director (nominated) Ang Lee: Independent Spirit Awards, Best Screenplay (nominated) James Schamus: Independent Spirit Awards, Best Screenplay (nominated) May Chin: Independent Spirit Awards, Best Actress (nominated) Mitchell Lichtenstein: Independent Spirit Awards, Best Actor (nominated) Neil Peng: Independent Spirit Awards, Best Screenplay (nominated)

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Foreign Language Film (nominated) Berlin International Film Festival, Golden Bear (winner) Golden Globe, Best Foreign Language Film (nominated) Independent Spirit Awards, Best Picture (nominated)

General Specifications: Language Options: English, Mandarin Subtitle Options: English, French, Spanish Sound Processing: DD1: Dolby Digital Mono Additional Features: cc "A Forbidden Passion" featurette with director/co-writer Ang Lee and producer/co-writer James Schamus Theatrical trailer DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1: Theatre Wide-Screen MPAA Rating: R DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 108 min   DVD Chapters: Side #1 -- 1. Main Title/Mother's Tape [3:50] 2. Vacation Plans [1:50] 3. Rich, Handsome Landlord [4:27] 4. A Great Mismatch [7:47] 5. Bride-in-Training [3:13] 6. Meet the In-Laws [6:34] 7. Perfect Tofu, Perfect Scroll [3:47] 8. A Mother-in-Law Knows [5:25] 9. "Till Sickness and Death" [4:53] 10. Suddenly Banquet [5:22] 11. Morning Ceremonies [6:44] 12. Debauchery for All [8:01] 13. Newlywed Games [6:36] 14. Single Guy's Social Life [:41] 15. Screaming in English [8:24] 16. Breaking News [1:55] 17. Back to Normal [4:58] 18. "I Watch, I Hear, I Learn" [8:24] 19. A Bigger Family [4:46] 20. End Credits [6:17]