The Wedding Banquet

1993, 106m, Taiwan/U.S., 35mm

Showtimes & Tickets

Screened November 19, 2019

Part of the program

Gay landlord Wai-Tung Gao (Winston Chon) agrees to marry his tenant Wei-Wei (May Chin), a struggling artist, to appease his socially conservative parents back in Taiwan and help grant her a green card. It’s a win-win until Mr. and Mrs. Gao announce a trip to America and the faux couple have to orchestrate a full-blown wedding extravaganza to keep his family from finding out about the marriage of convenience—and Wai-Tung’s inconvenient live-in boyfriend Simon (Mitchell Lichtenstein). This touching and riotously funny comedy of manners set a new standard for both Asian-American and LGBTQ representation onscreen, and marked the second of many fruitful collaborations between director Ang Lee and writer/producer James Schamus.

A film by Ang Lee

Funny and poignant.”

The New York Times

A gentle, surprising movie, this cross‑cultural favourite advanced Lee towards the big leagues.”

Empire Magazine