1. society
2. social institution
3. marriage

The Wedding Fools
Group Name: Poly Power
By: Rocio Ojeda, Cinthia Angulo, Erika Togual,
Edmund Cheung, David Gonzalez
The Wedding Banquet
• The Wedding Banquet was a
Comedy, Drama and Romance
movie.
• It was Directed by Ang Lee in
1993
• It was writen by Ang Lee, Neil
Pend, and James Schamus
• It's a great example of modern
day life and combines so many
issues of today; sexuality, cross
cultural life, tradition/modernity.
Rocio Ojeda
Summary
• Simon and Wei Tung are a gay couple
living together in Manhattan.
• Simon suggests a fraud marriage between
Wei Tung and Wei Wei, an immigrant in
need of a green card.
• When Wei-Tung's parents come to
America for the wedding, they insist upon
an elaborate banquet, resulting in several
complications.
Rocio Ojeda
The Wedding Banquet
(cont.)
• The Wedding Banquet is a truly inspiring and
cross culturally challenging film. It touches on
many issues and themes which have never
been combined before in one movie:
Taiwanese Americans vs. Chinese
Americans, Asian American families, old
school parents vs. younger generations, multi
racial couples, gay couples, gay Asian
Americans, immigrants, pride, family values
and love.
Rocio Ojeda
Fools Rush In
• Romantic comedy about
Mexican-American woman who
falls in love with Caucasian man
• Their families do not agree with
their relationship because of
cultural differences
• These differences eventually tear
them apart
• In the end, they reconcile
because they love each other
and realize that this is stronger
than their contrary views
Cinthia Angulo
Fools Rush In Comparison
Differences
• Language barrier in
The Wedding Banquet
• Complications of samesex relationships
• Only one family
involved in Wedding
Banquet that exerted
influence
Cinthia Angulo
Screenshot Analysis Clip
Screenshot Analysis
Title of Selected Movie
The Wedding Banquet
Scene
Breakfast
Duration of Scene
1.41
Number of shots in selected scene
1
Characters in Scene
5 (Wai-Tung, Simon, Wei-Wei, Mr. Gao, Mrs. Gao
Setting or Composition of Scene
Dining Room
Action
Walking, Pacing, Yelling, Whispering
Lighting
Front
Camera Angles
Straight on
Type of Shot
Pan
Sound
Dialogue
Transitions
Cut
Symbols
Food, Eggs/Fertility, Inside/Outside Actions
Special Effects
None
Cinthia Angulo
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Summary
This movie is about a young Greek
lady name Toula, who is going through
a midlife crisis.
At age thirty, she is the only woman in
her family who has failed to marry a
Greek, make Greek babies and feed
everyone until the day she dies.
Toula then meets Ian Miller and the
father does not accept this relationship
because he is not Greek.
At the end he does accepts the
relationship.
Erika Togual
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Comparison
Wedding Banquet






Chinese parents wants
Wai to get marry and
have lots of children
Set up in Singles club
In love with a male
Parents will not accept
the relationship
Parents want him to have
a big wedding banquet
Language barrier
Big Fat Greek Wedding






Greek parents want Tulla
to marry and have lots of
children
Set up in dates
In love with an American
Parents does not accept
the relationship
Parents wants her to have
a big Greek wedding
Language barrier
Erika Togual
Film Theory & Background
• What does it constitute?
• Why is Ang Lee so good at it in this film?
• Ang Lee’s first of three movies made about gay
characters and their lives
David Gonzalez
Key Theories
•
•
•
The films relationship with reality and society
at large
Talks about the troubles of Homosexuality and
openness in families with traditional culture
Explores the Taiwanese culture and marriage
rituals
David Gonzalez
Film Text & Approaches
• Film not only uses words but also
different shots, angles, and speeds
• Its semantic intent for the audience
• Although the film expresses itself to its
audience through a language, it cannot
constitute a linguistic system
David Gonzalez
Film Text & Approaches
(cont.)
• Therefore the language of film
cannot be answered by the
language of literature because
the two use different modes of
expression
David Gonzalez
Adaptations
•
•
In December 1993, a novelization of the film,
titled Wedding Banquet and published in
Japan, was written by Yuji Konno
In 2003, a musical adaptation with a different
twist was created and performed at the Village
Theatre. It was directed by John Tillinger and
choreographed by Sergio Trujillo
David Gonzalez
A Union of Convenience
Across a Cultural Divide
• Union of convenience:
– Wai Tung marries his tenants,
Wei Wei to keep his parents off
his back, and for Wei Wei to get a
green card.
– Wei Wei gets pregnant out of this
fake marriage and conveniantly
fulfills the wishes of Wai Tung’s
parents to have a grandchild.
– Wai Tung & Wei Wei’s marriage
symbolizes the reunion of China
and Taiwan.
Edmund Cheung
A Union of Convenience
Across a Cultural Divide
• Cultural Divide:
– Wai Tung: American workaholic
vs. the Asian Traditionalist
– Wei Wei: the painter struggling to
stay in America
– Simon: torn between his lover’s
family and himself
– Mrs. Gao: the intermediate
between the divide
Edmund Cheung
Quiz Time!!
• When was the Wedding Banquet filmed?
• What were the two parallel movies mentioned today?
• According to Toula family, there is three things that she has
failed in. What are those three things?
• The Wedding Banquet was turned into a _______
adaptation?
a) Musical
b) French
c) Opera
d) Television
• What did the marriage of Wai Tung and Wei Wei represent?
Edmund Cheung
The End
Edmund Cheung