The Wedding Banquet
1993 · Movie · R · 108 min · ★ 7.2 · 89% critics
A Taiwanese-American man in New York plans a marriage of convenience to satisfy his traditional parents, while his boyfriend helps keep things from falling apart. He arranges for a Chinese woman to join the plan, but when the parents arrive for the wedding banquet, family expectations collide with fast-changing relationships and culture.
Where to watch
Watch free on Kanopy, Tubi, Plex +1 more — also streaming on Hoopla.
2 hours to watch.
Stream (included)
Streaming availability and prices may be inaccurate or change — verify with the provider before subscribing.
unSUB's subscription recommendations are informational only, not financial advice.
More value for your money
Similar titles, ranked by watch-hours per subscription dollar.
Details
- Original title
- 囍宴
- Years
- 1993
- Release date
- 1993-03-01
- Language
- Chinese
- Rated
- R
- Runtime
- 108 min
- Critic score
- 89/100
- TMDB rating
- 7.2/10 (293 votes)
About
You’ll likely enjoy this charming, chaotic cross-cultural comedy if you like family-pressure stories with heart, tension, and big wedding-banquet energy like Eat Drink Man Woman or Manhattan; Not for you if you want a straightforward, purely light comedy with no serious emotional turns.
Pros: cross-cultural humor; heartfelt family drama; lively wedding banquet | Cons: awkward plot convenience; tone swings; sometimes uncomfortable choices
Themes
- coming out
- new york city
- secret love
- husband wife relationship
- parent child relationship
- wedding night
- marriage of convenience
- interracial relationship
- male homosexuality
- man pretending to be straight
- wedding
- family
- +4 more
Awards & recognition
- Golden Bear · 1993
- Golden Horse Award — Best Feature Film · 1993
- Academy Award — Best International Feature Film · 1994 · nominated
- International Submission to the Academy Awards · 1994 · nominated
Cast & crew
Winston Chao
as Gao Wai-Tung
Gua Ah-leh
as Mrs. Gao
Lung Sihung
as Mr. Gao
May Chin
as Gu Wei-Wei
Mitchell Lichtenstein
as Simon
- VY
Vanessa Yang
as Mao Mei
- DB
Dion Birney
as Andrew
Jeanne Kuo Chang
as Wai-Tung's Secretary
Michael Gaston
as Justice of the Peace
Neal Huff
as Steve
Directed by Ang Lee