The Wedding Banquet (1993)

90s is probably my favorite decade for films. There is something special about the way they used to shoot movies - without the overreliance on green screens when everything was more tactile and grounded, and something about the way they used to write dialogues, without the current hyperfocus on realism, but with a emphasis on making things poetic and romantic. 

There is also something really comforting in seeing how a film from 30 years ago can still speak so clearly to today. That the struggles and joys it captures haven’t aged out, but remain relevant and relatable. Tender, funny and thoughtful, The Wedding Banquet is such a 90s film in the best of ways. 

For a movie about being gay made in 1993, this one has so much heart. It walks a really delicate line in telling the struggles of being gay without being patronizing, showing the joy of being gay without becoming caricature. It gracefully critiques the Chinese cultural obsession with filial piety/familial continuity without being condescending, and portrays the weight of the immigrant experience - the way people shape themselves to belong, to survive, and not to disappoint - without simplifying it into a single narrative. 

Very much worth a watch before Bowen Yang’s remake comes out! This one will be difficult to top, but I am excited to see what the a new generation brings to the story.