When filmmaker Ang Lee made “The Wedding Banquet” in 1993, the world was a very different place. Same-sex couples could not marry. A lot has changed since then. Those changes are clear and present in director Andrew Ahn’s new reimagining of the film.
Meanwhile, across the yard, lesbian couple Lee (Gladstone) and Angela (Kelly Marie Tran) have a problem of their own. Lee wants to have a baby, but her IVF treatments have failed twice. She doesn’t want to try again because a third failure would be too painful, and besides, they can’t afford to pay for a third treatment.
The “perfect” solution is found. Min will marry Angela, thereby satisfying his homophobic grandfather, which will secure his inheritance and get him a green card. He’ll also pay for more IVF treatments for the women. Of course, the marriage will be a sham. Min and Chris will still be a couple, as will Lee and Angela.
Complications arise when Chris and Angela go out drinking together and get falling-down drunk. They wake up in bed together with no memory of what transpired the night before. They realize what they did when Angela becomes pregnant.
There are two more characters who round out the story, Angela’s mom May (Joan Chen) and Min’s grandma (Youn Yuh-jung). May is the perfect PFLAG mom, attending meetings, running up to the stage and dancing at a drag show, and overall being a good mom who fully accepts her daughter for who she is, accepting Lee as well. But she wasn’t always such a good mom, as Angela tells her. There was a time when she was unable to accept her daughter, but she has since come around.
Grandma is a bit of a sad character who realizes that Min is gay, yet she supports the marriage to Angela so Min can get his inheritance. Yuh-jung, one of Korea’s best-known actresses, won an Oscar a few years back for her work in the independent film “Minari.” Here she once again proves herself to be a formidable screen presence.
This may sound like it’s quite a serious film, and there are indeed some serious moments. But “The Wedding Banquet” is first and foremost a rom-com, and there are many lighthearted moments, along with some romantic ones. The cast couldn’t be more likable. Yang and Gi-Chan, along with Gladstone and Tran, make for two very attractive couples. The four of them play off each other beautifully, playing the film’s serious side, its comedic side and its romantic side with equal aplomb.
Ahn wrote his delightful screenplay with James Schamus, who served the same duties on the original film. They did a great job in updating the story for these more liberated times, shifting the story’s focus to the two women. Production values are high, on par with what would be expected from a major studio and not the smaller film that this is.
The new “Wedding Banquet” is not a remake. It is a reimagining. It takes the original story and updates it for the 21st century. With an even mix of good humor and good drama, it underscores how far we’ve come, but also reminds us that we still have a way to go.
‘The Wedding Banquet’ in English and Korean, with subtitles, opens April 18, AMC Kabuki Theater, 1881 Post St.
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