Ang Lee, the director of The Wedding Banquet (1993), is one of the most notable and celebrated Taiwanese film directors in their history. He has directed some very popular movies such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Hulk (2003), Brokeback Mountain (2005), and The Life of Pi (2011). Similar to the Wedding Banquet, his film Brokeback Mountain was another excellent film that was about two male homosexual lovers. It starred the late Heath Ledger. Lee was nominated for Oscars for The Wedding Banquet and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. He won an Oscar in 2012 for Life of Pi.
2. Find a related article and summarize the content:
Wai-Tung is a gay man born in Taiwan but now a naturalized American who speaks fluent English. He has agreed to the request of his lover, Simon, to marry Wei Wei, who is a part-time waitress and painter, as well as one of Wai Tung's tenants. She is marrying him in order to obtain her green card, but she also finds Wai-Tung very attractive. On the other hand, Wai-Tung is marrying her at the request of Simon in order to get his parents off his back about marriage and to keep his true love life private. Wai-Tung's parents fly over to New York City from Taiwan once they heard the news about the wedding. The two lover's, Wai-Tung and Simon go to extreme lengths to conceal the extent of their relationship. Upon arriving at their home, it had to be redecorated to make it seem like Wai-Tung and Wei Wei lived there together, and not Wai-Tung and Simon. Simon is introduced to Wai-Tung's parents and roommate (which I'm surprised didn't raise any suspicion then). The lies continue to pile on, Wei Wei serves everyone dinner every night during the parents' two-week stay that is actually cooked by Simon (Wei Wei does not even know how to fry an egg). The film starts off as a light comedy but gradually becomes a bit dark as it goes along. After the solution to Wei Wei's pregnancy between Simon and Wai-Tung, it leaves the five main characters wiser and more compassionate than how they started out. The most touching character of the film was Wai-Tung's mother, whose existence seems to be tied to the pursuit of social convention. The film has a sense of history built into the plot. Wai-Tung and Wei Wei's marriage can also be viewed as a symbolic reunion of mainland China and Taiwan. The fact the future of their family line is dependant on this suspect marriage based on convenience to both parties gives the film an extra sense of comedy.
http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F0CEFDB1431F937A3575BC0A965958260
3. Apply the article to the film screened in class:
The article supported and differentiated how I thought about the film. I definitely see the bit of history built into the plot with the idea that Wai-Tung and Wei Wei's marriage can be viewed as a symbolic reunion of mainland China and Taiwan, given that the director is from Taiwan. However, I felt that Wai-Tung's father was the most touching and thoughtful character in the film (not the mother), with Simon being a close second. Once Wai-Tung told his mother the truth about the marriage and his true lover, they both made it clear that they were to not tell his father under any circumstances and go on with the lie up until they left to return to Taiwan. They thought he would decide to disown Wai-Tung.But the father ended up using his own judgment and found out the truth on his own. He told Simon in a discrete way in their conversation by the river. And when they said goodbye before boarding their plane, he kindly thanked Simon for taking care of his son. He wasn't thinking of himself, but of his son's own well-being and happiness. Simon is also very thoughtful and caring for deciding to help raise Wei Wei and Wai-Tung's baby after she decided to keep it.
4. Write a critical analysis of the film, including your personal opinion, formed as a result of the screening, class discussions, text material, and the article.
The film overall was very well put together. It was certainly the most entertaining since we watched the film from Scotland. It was a perfect mix of drama, romance, and comedy. The theme of understanding and acceptance by the parents after learning the truth about their son was perfect. I definitely thought they were going to take that much worse than they did. However, Wei Wei becoming pregnant the night of the wedding banquet at the fancy restaurant seemed a bit unrealistic. Wai-Tung clearly wasn't looking for sex but Wei Wei in a way forced herself upon him. But for her to become pregnant off of having sex just one time seemed far-fetched.
CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM
1) ( ^ ) I have not handed in this assignment for any other class.
2) ( ^ ) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other classes, I clearly explain that in the paper.
3) ( ^ ) If I used any passages word for word, I put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text.
4) ( ^ ) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in the text of the paper.
5) ( ^ ) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally read.
6) ( ^ ) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography.
7) ( ^ ) I did not so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality.
8) ( ^ ) I checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and ideas used in my paper.
Name: ___Cameron Beall___________________________________ Date: _______2/21/18_____________________
1) ( ^ ) I have not handed in this assignment for any other class.
2) ( ^ ) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other classes, I clearly explain that in the paper.
3) ( ^ ) If I used any passages word for word, I put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text.
4) ( ^ ) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in the text of the paper.
5) ( ^ ) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally read.
6) ( ^ ) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography.
7) ( ^ ) I did not so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality.
8) ( ^ ) I checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and ideas used in my paper.
Name: ___Cameron Beall___________________________________ Date: _______2/21/18_____________________
Citations:
http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F0CEFDB1431F937A3575BC0A965958260
https://www.empireonline.com/movies/wedding-banquet/review/
http://thepolitic.org/film-review-the-wedding-banquet/
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