The Wedding Banquet (1993) ½
cast: Winston Chao, May Chin, Mitchell Lichtenstein, Sihung Lung, and Gua Ah Leh
director: Ang Lee

Good parents are always there for support. They baby us, they raise us to what they hope are to their expectations, and with a little pushing they help us make the right decisions in sometimes compromising situations. For the boys they ask very little a good home, a good wife, a good family, and a good job.

The subject of Taiwanese director Ang Lee's film "The Wedding Banquet" is Wai-Tung (Chao), a young and handsome Taiwanese man living in New York. He works the business end of construction in addition to owning some lofts that he has purchased and curates himself.

Wai-Tung also happens to be gay--the conflict of Lee's script.

Wai-Tung has pretty much met his goals in life--the good job, home, and a suitable mate (family excluded due to the nature). However, his parents (Lung and Gua who still reside over seas) are unaware of this. Oh sure they are proud of their son who has come from another country and made good in America and met certain job opportunities and business ventures--it's just that their loving boy has failed (nor had the courage) to ever tell them that he is gay.

Mom and Dad are left to wonder why their son has yet to marry the subject header to letters and phone calls that have become more persistent. Their reaction is to figure that he hasn't, rather, needs to find the perfect Taiwanese bride. At one point early in the film they even send over an opera singer of great beauty, but Wai-Tung has to explain his situation to her and continue to dodge enquiring parents. Then, the moment of dread arrives.

Wai-Tung's parents are coming to visit.

Still shaky about his situation Wai-Tung and Simon come up with a plan that will please his parents and let him off the hook. In one of Wai-Tung's lofts lives Wei Wei (Chin) a female friend of his who is a hop/skip/and a jump away from being deported. The two lovers devise that Wai-Tung can present Wei Wei as his bride, marry her--suiting the parents and saving his friend from being deported because, she will become an American citizen.

A few years ago, I remember the French film "La Cage Aux Folles" that was made into a successful American film starring Robin Williams titled "The Birdcage." The subject of that film centered on a gay man's straight son (created during a phase of heterosexuality) and his struggle to pass off his father and his lover as straights to his soon-to-be well-to-do in laws. The results were comical and the issues of homosexuality never seemed to invade the plot at hand.

Despite some very warm and humorous moments, I have a hard time thinking that Lee passed the test with "The Wedding Banquet." During some segments of the film, the viewer may be puzzled as to what the film is really about Wai-Tung's struggle to gain acceptance and give honor to his family by somehow coming up with a straight marriage. On the other hand, is it about Wai-Tung's sexuality in general? I honestly couldn't tell you.

When a film such as "The Wedding Banquet" is out of touch with its own feelings, insecurities, and goals to be met it makes for a harder viewing experience. The fact that this film could have easily been split into two separate movies while keeping the same basic storyline should have sent whirling red lights and loud alarms off in the director's head.

This birdcage is just as crazy, but noticeably less organized.