Speaking of Ang Lee , the first thing everyone thinks of is "Lust and Caution", because this work is an alternative and avant-garde in conservative domestic film and television works!
However, Ang Lee has a niche work that is more avant-garde than Lust, Caution -
"The Wedding Banquet"
This is one of Ang Lee's famous "family trilogy" .
Compared with the other two works, this work is much more enjoyable, but the main line is still Chinese-style family relationships, but this time, a lot of avant-garde things have been added to the original traditional story structure.
The film was nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, won the Berlin Golden Bear Award in Germany, and won the 30th Golden Horse Award for Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress , Best Screenplay and Best Editing.
The movie starts with a box of videotapes. The male protagonist Gao Wei works out with while listening to his mother's recording. In order to save his son's phone bills, the mother records what she wants to say and mails it to America .
She said that her shoulders were always sore recently, and Wei Tong's father also quickly aged after retirement. The implication of
is: your parents are getting old, and you are too old to start a family.
As the only seed in the family, although people are overseas, they can inherit incense and carry the responsibility of filial piety, so my mother helped Wei Tong join a blind date club without authorization, hoping that he will succeed in getting rid of the single as soon as possible.
What the mother didn't know was that her son had a gay man who had been with him for five yearsSimon, and Weitong planned to take his lover to Paris for a trip in September.
From the relationship between Weitong and Simon, Weitong occupies a strong position, not only because of his personality, but also because of his good job and several real estate sales.
Village is an illegal immigrant from Shanghai to the United States. Due to difficult conditions, he can only live in a dilapidated apartment.
Weitong couldn't bear to hear the girl's cry, so he used her painting to offset three months' rent.
After returning home, Wei Tong received the blind date information sent by his mother, and he needed to fill in the mate selection request on the form.
Simon didn't understand why he didn't confess to 's parents , Wei Tong didn't bother to explain that the cultural differences between China and the West could not be explained in a short time.
In order to prevent blind date, the two deliberately set the standard of mate selection so high that it is difficult to achieve.
However, two weeks later, Wei Tong received a tape from his mother, and she actually found an object that met the standard.
and the parents have already arranged for the girl to fly to New York to meet.
everyone came, Wei Tong had to pick her up and invite her to dinner.
During the chat, Wei Tongcai learned that the girl has a white boyfriend, and she only follows her parents' wishes when she comes to the United States for a blind date.
Seeing that Weitong was in a huge tangle, Simon made a suggestion: fake marriage.
and the chosen marriage partner is Vigilant. On the one hand, Vivian can get the green card , and on the other hand, it can also make the old man feel at ease.
Weitong considered for a long time and agreed with Simon's proposal, and Vivienne readily agreed.
Who ever thought that the old couple heard that their son was getting married, and they were so happy that they decided to come to the United States to attend their son's wedding.
The two elders want to meet their daughter-in-law, and by the way they also have a Chinese wedding.
Wei Tong was in a hurry at this time. He hurriedly packed the house, took down the pictures of He and Simon, and hung up various calligraphy and paintings sent by his father.
The next day, Weitong and Weiwei went to the airport to pick up their parents, and this ridiculous story officially began.
My parents are very satisfied with this dignified and decent daughter-in-law. He glanced at Wei Wei's buttocks and was full of joy. If her butt is big, she will be able to give birth, so there is no need to worry about the inheritance of the incense.
After returning home, Wei Tong introduced Simon to his parents, saying that he was his roommate and landlord. After a simple greeting, he started busy.
Vivienne prepared dinner with the help of Simon. Although she is not good at cooking, she is proficient in calligraphy and painting. Her comment on a word of her father was very standard, which made the old man smile from ear to ear.
The second elder is quite satisfied with this daughter-in-law who can give birth, raise food, cook and have culture.
After dinner, my mother took out the prepared cheongsam and precious jewelry, gift money, gift from the suitcase.
This made Weiwei feel a little pressure. If the second old man knew the truth, how sad it would be.
And Simon, as an "invisible daughter-in-law", gave his parents his own gifts - a blood pressure monitor and a facial cream.
Because Westerners pay attention to practical value, considering that Gao's father is not in good health, and Gao's mother's skin is sagging when she is old.
In China, topics such as illness, aging, and death are very taboo for the elderly. Faced with these two gifts from Simon, the two elders smiled, but they were quite unhappy.
At this time, Weiwei came out wearing a cheongsam, and they rushed forward, leaving Simon alone. Perhaps at this time, he also regretted such a bad idea.
But since things have developed to this point, no matter how hard it is in my heart, I can only bear it.
However, this harmonious relationship did not last long.
The next morning, they quarreled about the wedding. Wei Tong decided to go to the notary office in the afternoon to take the oath to get married and make do with it, and did not plan to hold the wedding.
But parents think that a person gets married only once in a lifetime, even if he doesn't think about himself, he should think about it for Weiwei? It's so simple, how can you be worthy of your in-laws?
But they couldn't hold back their son, so when they attended the wedding notarization in the afternoon, the second old man was very sad, and when the family photo was taken, the mother even burst into tears and said sorry to Wei Wei.
Seeing this, Simon decided to invite Weitong to the best Chinese restaurant nearby to celebrate the marriage.
I didn't expect that the Chinese restaurant they went to was opened by Lao Chen , a former subordinate of Dad Gao. Lao Chen learned that Wei Tong used such a simple meal to celebrate the wedding, so he dared to say a few more words.
He proposed to hold a wedding banquet on the second floor, and rent a hotel room as a wedding room, and he took care of everything.
Now this wedding banquet has to be held if it doesn't want to be held. Wei Tong called his classmates, friends and partners in the United States one by one and invited them to attend.
The communication between Simon and Wei Tong, who planned this lie at the beginning, began to decrease.
On the morning of the wedding, the mother and son sat together to recall the past , and the parents were extremely happy.
And Weiwei called her mother in the room, but she didn't dare to say that she was married. After all, it was a fake marriage, but tears fell without knowing it, all kinds of grief, who can understand? The highlight of the
wedding banquet is finally here. Ang Lee did his best in this scene to show the Chinese style wedding.
A couple of newlyweds are exquisitely dressed, especially the bride, although wearing a wedding dress, she is dressed in gold and silver jewelry.
They first knelt in front of their parents to receive the red envelopes, and then drank lotus seed soup, implying an early birth of a precious child.
was followed by the wedding photo shoot. After the photo shoot, the couple and their parents walked into the hotel , and the wedding feast officially began.
There were twenty tables of people who came, and one table was an American friend of Wei Tong. Under the strange eyes of these Americans, everyone tapped the wine glass with chopsticks to make the new couple kiss.
Weitong was forced to have no choice but to give a French kiss from mouth to mouth. Simon on the side of
wiped his mouth. His parents saw the scene in front of him. Although they thought it was a bit strange, they didn't take it to heart.
followed by toasts and various games unique to Chinese weddings.
All the guests were laughing, this is the way a wedding should be.
This wedding banquet, everyone was drinking too much, especially Wei Tong and Wei Wei who were too drunk to walk. They wanted to have a good rest when they returned to the hotel.
The last part of the bridal chamber is that the bride and groom get into the quilt, take off all their clothes, and throw them out of the quilt.
After watching the scene, everyone laughed and left, while Weiwei and Gao Wei were lying in the quilt together.
Weitong wanted to fall asleep like this, but he looked at the Vigilantes in front of him, and he, who had always only liked men, actually reacted to women.
A moment later, the two of them acted as if nothing had happened, and Simon didn't know the truth.
Dad Gao drank too much alcohol at the wedding banquet and his blood pressure went up, so he stayed for three more weeks.
I thought that life would be back to normal when my parents left, but that night Weiwei hugged the pillow and sobbed, she was pregnant.
While having breakfast the next day, Wei Tong confessed to his pregnancy from door to door in the yard.
When Simon was angry, he felt betrayed and quarreled in front of Weitong's parents.
Simon denounced Weitong for being fake in English, Weiwei was also angry, and the three of them quarreled in English.
Mum was at a loss and didn't know why they were arguing, and Dad told her to stop asking, but his hands were shaking unconsciously.
Dad's heart attack was not serious at all, but Wei Tong didn't want to hide it any longer. He confessed to his mother.
Weitong told his mother that he was gay and that Simon was his lover. They had been dating for five years, and it was a fake marriage to Weiwei, just to reassure his parents.
Mom was frightened, but she subconsciously said, don't tell Dad, something will happen.
Village and Simon, who were hiding in the corner, overheard everything and felt very depressed.
Maybe this fake marriage was wrong from the beginning, and now everything has completely collapsed, but for the sake of Dad Gao's body, they have to continue acting.
This evening, Simon personally cooked for everyone, and everyone finished their meal in silence.
The mother looked at the photos of Wei Tong when she was a child in the room. She didn't understand how a good child could like a man?
Especially when Vigilant said she wanted to abort the child, she was even more desperate, and the incense of the old Gao family was about to break.
She begged Weiwei to reconsider, but Weiwei also wanted to understand that there are more important things in life than a green card.
The next day, when she saw her son and daughter-in-law drive away, her mother collapsed and fell to the ground, crying.
Dad Gao woke up from his nap and called Simon to go out for a walk. The two sat by the river and chatted for a long time.
Dad Gao took out a red envelope to wish him "Happy Birthday".
He speaks English. It turns out that Dad Gao understands English and knows what they said that day. He said that Weitong is my son, so you are my son, and the money is for you.
Dad Gao didn't want Simon to tell Mommy Gao and Wei Tong that it was a secret between them, but then he said in Chinese, if I don't let them lie to me, how can I hold my grandson?
Dad Gao couldn't understand his son's sexual orientation, but the incense of the Gao family must find a way to pass it on. He does have his own thoughts.
In fact, it is not difficult to understand his compromise, because in Chinese-style marriages, some of them are not because of love.
The two got married just to pass on the family. It doesn't matter how Wei Tong lived with Simon in the United States, because the wedding banquet has already been held.
Sure enough, Weiwei did not destroy the child, and she regretted it halfway.
Wei Tong was also very happy. After returning home, Wei Tong asked Simon if he would like to be the father of the child in Wei Wei's belly.
Simon was naturally very happy, and he readily agreed. On the day
left, everyone looked at the wedding photos together, and they laughed happily, but everyone's laughter was meaningful.
What Dad Gao said to Simon, Weiwei and Weitong before he left was even more meaningful.
He said to Simon: Thank you for taking care of Wei Tong.
He said to Vigilant: The Gao family will thank you.
He said to Wei Tong: Well, we are going back.
The words spoken by the same person represent the father-in-law, the Gao family and the father respectively.
And after saying this, Ang Lee specially gave a shot of Dad Gao raising his hand when he went through the security check. This raised hand meant surrender. Dad Gao chose to compromise after knowing everything.
"The Wedding Banquet" depicts the estrangement, collision and reconciliation between two generations under the Chinese concept of family.
However, China's most traditional concept of family is further deepened in the turmoil, and the conflict in the emotional family of forbearance is finally resolved in love and understanding.
It's not just the children who compromise, the parents too.
Isn't love the basis of mutual compromise? The mutual compromise between the two generations, choosing to accept everything, this is a wedding feast after all!
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