it's movie time again :)
Feb. 3rd, 2013 10:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
floatingleafBecause it's still relatively early, and I probably won't manage to post anything during the week... and I haven't done a movie review in a while - let me just mention my latest Netflix experience. The Wedding Banquet by Ang Lee. It's not a new film by any stretch - it was made in 1993 - but somehow I haven't seen it before. Which is puzzling for two reasons. One, it's a movie about a gay couple.:) And two, I LOVE Ang Lee. Each one of his films that I have seen so far was amazing - even the ones without any gay elements in them. Like Lust, Caution, which blew me away. And, of course, he made Brokeback Mountain (do I need to explain how I feel about THAT one?... I think not :D).
The Wedding Banquet hit a nerve with me for a number of reasons. The story, in brief, goes as follows: a young gay Taiwanese man, living in New York with his American boyfriend, decides to marry a woman to please his traditional parents (who have been bugging him about it for years). He also does this to help an illegal Chinese immigrant renting out a room in a building he owns; the girl needs a green card to stay in the country, and she can get one through marrying a legal resident. So it's like killing two birds with one stone, and both our protagonist and his boyfriend initially agree that it's a brilliant plan. The parents, of course, fly over from Taiwan for the wedding, and are absolutely charmed by the prospective daughter-in-law (who, just to make things a little bit more complicated, happens to actually be in love with her future husband). While their son's American boyfriend is introduced as his "landlord". And so the great charade begins. There is comedy, there is drama, and there are numerous moments of wonderful insight into each of the characters, with all their complexity and the charged nature of their interactions. All the themes in this film - homosexuality, emigration, difficult family relationships - resonate with me deeply, and I was moved by how real it all felt. Also, I love it when a character manages to surprise me without losing their plausibility - which is exactly what happened towards the end of the story. But that's all I'm going to say. No spoilers. See it if you haven't. It's tender, compassionate and uplifting. Because in the end, however cheesy that may sound, love is what really matters. To everyone. Love and forgiveness, and understanding. It's a simple message that can't be repeated often enough, as far as I am concerned. Call me a sap if you will.:P
The Wedding Banquet hit a nerve with me for a number of reasons. The story, in brief, goes as follows: a young gay Taiwanese man, living in New York with his American boyfriend, decides to marry a woman to please his traditional parents (who have been bugging him about it for years). He also does this to help an illegal Chinese immigrant renting out a room in a building he owns; the girl needs a green card to stay in the country, and she can get one through marrying a legal resident. So it's like killing two birds with one stone, and both our protagonist and his boyfriend initially agree that it's a brilliant plan. The parents, of course, fly over from Taiwan for the wedding, and are absolutely charmed by the prospective daughter-in-law (who, just to make things a little bit more complicated, happens to actually be in love with her future husband). While their son's American boyfriend is introduced as his "landlord". And so the great charade begins. There is comedy, there is drama, and there are numerous moments of wonderful insight into each of the characters, with all their complexity and the charged nature of their interactions. All the themes in this film - homosexuality, emigration, difficult family relationships - resonate with me deeply, and I was moved by how real it all felt. Also, I love it when a character manages to surprise me without losing their plausibility - which is exactly what happened towards the end of the story. But that's all I'm going to say. No spoilers. See it if you haven't. It's tender, compassionate and uplifting. Because in the end, however cheesy that may sound, love is what really matters. To everyone. Love and forgiveness, and understanding. It's a simple message that can't be repeated often enough, as far as I am concerned. Call me a sap if you will.:P
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Date: 2013-02-04 05:14 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2013-02-05 03:10 am (UTC)