Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

The Wedding Banquet Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 9, 2017

Nominated for Oscar Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Ang Lee's "The Wedding Banquet" (1993) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film and archival interviews with Ang Lee and co-writer/co-producer James Schamus. In English and Mandarin, with optional English and English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The bride that changed everything

I think that it is a pretty safe bet that when in 1993 Ang Lee decided to shoot his second feature film, The Wedding Banquet, he had already seen Edouard Molinaro's La Cage aux Folles. I am not trying to imply that The Wedding Banquet is some sort of a copycat, but if you look close enough you will see that it seeks and finds humor in many of the exact same places where La Cage aux Folles does. Now, if I had to compare The Wedding Banquet to an American film from 1993, I would immediately say that it has a lot in common with Yurek Bogayevicz’s Three of Hearts, which coincidentally was also his second feature film.

Lee’s film is set in New York City where gay lovers Wai-Tung (Winston Chao) and Simon (Mitchell Lichtenstein) are in a perfect relationship -- they work hard and play even harder and could not care less what the rest of the world thinks of them. But an unexpected phone call from Taipei changes everything. Wai-Tung’s mother proudly announces that a local dating agency has finally discovered the perfect wife for him and that she is eager to meet him. It is a miracle really because she is everything Wai-Tung wanted her to be -- highly intelligent with two Ph.D. degrees, fluent in five languages, and an outstanding opera singer. The future wife is then sent to America to meet Wai-Tung while his parents begin making plans for the inevitable grandchildren. In a truly desperate attempt to extend his double life Wai-Tung then throws a Hail Mary pass and reveals that he has already found the perfect bride and that that they have plans for the future. This of course is a lie and the ‘future wife’ is simply a young immigrant artist named Wei-Wei (May Chin) who rents a poorly remodeled loft -- without an air conditioner -- from Wai Tung and desperately needs a Green Card so that she can continue to stay legally in America. So by agreeing to help Wai Tung make his parents happy and keep them away from his personal life, Wei-Wei will also put an end to the harassment courtesy of the local immigration authorities that she has been putting up with on a regular basis. The brilliant plan, however, creates an even bigger mess when Wai-Tung’s parents announce that they are coming to America to arrange a big and proper wedding banquet to celebrate the special event.

The Wedding Banquet is a bittersweet comedy that targets a wide range of clichés and for the most part hits them with the right authority. It also does it with the right tone, which is why when the final credits roll it is somewhat easier to believe that eventually people tend to figure out a way to be honest about their feelings and be comfortable in their own skin.

Admittedly, there are large parts of the film that look quite dated now because it is easy to see that Lee carefully controls the emotions of different groups of people. The drunken games after the banquet, for instance, really lack the spontaneity to appear authentic, and later on the angry outbursts during the family gatherings also seem preplanned. The supposedly awkward moments between Wai-Tung and Wei-Wei only seem awkwardly rushed as well.

The elderly parents (played by veterans Lung Sihung and Kuei Ya-Lei) are delightful to watch and arguably the main reason why the film oozes such wonderful warmth and charm. Their body language, the casual gestures and words reveal a completely different level of experience. With people like them you genuinely begin to feel that no matter what eventually things will sort themselves out.

The Wedding Banquet Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Ang Lee's The Wedding Banquet arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films.

It is fairly easy to tell that the release is sourced from an older master. However, even though there are areas where density is inconsistent and depth really isn't as convincing as it should be, the film's overall appearance is still quite pleasing. The main reason for this is that no attempts have been made to repolish and resharpen it. Also, there are no traces of recent filtering adjustments. On the other hand, the grain also isn't as pronounced as it should be -- especially in a way that new 2K or 4K masters ensure that it is -- so the more obvious some of the fluctuations that are mentioned above are, the easier it will be for you to notice the age of the master. There are also a few segments where black crush sneaks in, though my feeling is that you will spot its presence primarily during close-ups (see a good example in screencapture #3). Colors are stable, but ideally saturation should be better, and there should be a healthier range of nuances. Image stability is good. There are no distracting large debris, cuts, damage marks, stains, warped or torn frames to report. My score is 3.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Wedding Banquet Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (with small portions of Mandarin). Optional English (for the Mandarin) and English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I don't recall seeing this film in my theater and I am a bit suspicious that the original audio soundtrack was Mono. On the other hand, it was only Ang Lee's second feature film and it is painfully obvious that it was shot with a very modest budget. Whatever the case might be, the current lossless track handles the dialog and the unimpressive score really well. During he outdoor footage there are a few segments here and there where balance appears inconsistent, but I could easily tell that the original audio was not mixed terribly well. In other words, there are random organic sounds and noises that pretty easily create unevenness. There are no audio dropouts, pops, cracks, or distracting distortions to report.

The Wedding Banquet Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for The Wedding Banquet. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

• A Forbidden Passion - Featurette - in this archival featurette, Ang Lee discusses his first steps in the film industry and explains how the original idea for The Wedding Banquet came to exist as well as why the film could have been made only in America. Also included are clips from an interview with co-writer/co-producer James Schamus. In English, not subtitled. (20 min, 1080p).

The Wedding Banquet Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Ang Lee's second feature film, The Wedding Banquet, has a big heart and is pretty much impossible to dislike, though I think that it would have been even better with a bolder script. I enjoyed it, but I felt that it does plenty of things the 'right way', rather than with a spontaneity that would have made it look a lot more authentic. The Blu-ray release is sourced from a slightly uneven but good master, and also has a nice archival featurette with interesting comments from Ang Lee and co-writer/co-producer James Schamus. RECOMMENDED.