‘The Wedding Banquet’ movie review: a heartwarming modern rom-com
There are hundreds of rom-coms that centre around straight couples, with heterosexual relationships dominating this genre of cinema while queer characters are rarely allowed into mainstream love stories.
From the likes of Notting Hill to When Harry Met Sally, audiences are inundated with on-screen couples that reaffirm a certain type of love story, and one that is so seldom infused with queerness unless the gay characters exist as punchlines or secondary characters. However, this is something that Andrew Ahn has once again tackled with his recent film The Wedding Banquet, which not only a portrait of queer love and the many ways it manifests, but specifically, queer Asian characters.
The Wedding Banquet is a fun and refreshing remake of Ang Lee’s 1993 film of the same name, following Min as he asks to marry his friend Angela for a green card after his commitment-phobic partner Chris rejects his proposal, offering in exchange to pay for her partner Lee’s expensive IVF treatment. What then ensues is a stream of mayhem and misunderstandings after Min’s grandmother stages an elaborate wedding banquet for them, with each couple pretending to be straight in order to convince his family.
In many ways, it is the classic formula for a good rom-com, with light-hearted mishaps and a slow escalation of chaos as the characters try to keep up with their own lies. However, the film is also touched by their complex familial relationships, following Min and Angela as they come to terms with their repressed anger and sadness over not being accepted for who they are, finding catharsis through the mess of the staged wedding.
While there are some awkward lines of dialogue and slightly forced emotional beats, Ahn has created a modern take on a traditional genre through his exploration of found family, queer community and authenticity, showing strength that these characters draw from their friendship with each other and their journey’s to find a life that is most authentic to who they are. There are many traditions that have been defined on the terms of heterosexual couples, but by the end of the film, Min, Chris, Angela, and Lee define their own version of family and muddle their way to a life that is unique to them.
There are some particularly moving moments between Joan Chen and Kelly Marie Tran, who play mother and daughter, both working through their thorny past and Angela’s difficult relationship to the idea of motherhood after being failed at a time when she most needed support. But alongside the delicate moments, Ahn also balances the light with the dark, adding laugh-out-loud moments as both couples stumble their way through the wedding and their attempts at presenting themselves in a straight way.
One particularly memorable scene is Angela and Lee trying to ‘de-gay’ their house, removing films like Certain Women and Portrait of a Lady on Fire from their shelves and shoving them back in the closet. While the plot becomes a little convoluted at points, it is a highly enjoyable and easy watch, and I can’t say I have seen anything quite like it before.
Queer love stories might be harder to find, but this is absolutely a step in the right direction, and one that is full of joy and all the bumps that come with trying to figure things out.
