Ang Lee couldn't help but say "You What I saw was the result of five thousand years of sexual repression.” The foreigner in front of him was still noncommittal, with a confused expression on his face, but I, who also grew up under the influence of five thousand years of civilization, almost laughed like crazy when I saw this scene. , which is Ang Lee's endearing, and the only time he "can't help" expressing his views so directly. When I found out that only Chinese people can understand Ang Lee's feelings, I suddenly realized that no matter how popular Ang Lee's films are with foreigners, the only people he really wants to talk to and communicate with are Chinese people who can truly understand Ang Lee. The essence of the work can only be Chinese. Because Ang Lee's personal cultural foundation is still oriental, the most fundamental starting point and thinking point for the collision and communication between the two cultures are still centered on the east.
A [Wedding Banquet] contains amazingly rich content and layers, the emotional exchanges between the two generations, the different attitudes towards tradition, the different pursuits of life, and even the attitude of the whole Chinese society towards sex, as well as the politics implied by the collision of different identities. Alluding to, after watching the [wedding banquet] with laughter and tears, I still feel the aftertaste. [The Wedding Banquet] is Ang Lee's most charming work expressing oriental society and emotion. The story and characters may be either individual cases or the whole. The subject and details can be in-depth or simple, including [Pushing Hands], [ Eating Men and Women] is the most outstanding of the "Father Trilogy".
suppressed
Ang Lee's wisdom lies in the fact that there is no better angle than the "wedding banquet" to photograph the Chinese people's repression of sexuality. Any Chinese person can understand that the public obscenity has reached a crazy level, and if you imagine the reason for it, what kind of depression these seemingly crazy Chinese people usually endure, it will appear like this. Distorted crowd phenomenon. In the West, you can't see everyone at the wedding coaxing the newlyweds to kiss. In their eyes, it is so natural that the guests only have the blessing and envy. But in China, it's like a rare spectacle. It suddenly reminds me of the New Year's Day party when I was studying. Everyone would coax someone to perform a show. Only then did he straighten his collar and appear shy to perform on stage. In fact, he wanted to show his hands for a long time. Is this the natural shyness of the Chinese, or is it a concept formed day after day to truly express that one should be ashamed. This kind of contradiction is incomprehensible to foreigners, but if you are an overseas Chinese, you can realize the difference between the East and the West in expressing individual feelings. , his heart should be angry and desolate for this. So I understand that Ang Lee filmed [The Wedding Banquet] with a little mockery and helplessness. You can't get out of it, and you can't agree with this method, so you can only laugh at yourself. Even able to laugh at himself, at least still sober.
Family
In fact, the biggest pressure Chinese people face is often family. It is closely related to you, so you cannot resolutely resist or abandon it. Ang Lee's performance in detail and emotion is nuanced to the point of cruelty. Father fell asleep upstairs, Wei Tong's fingers trembled to touch his breath, what was he thinking before you think he was relieved for a moment? Which of his father's life or death is the result he is more willing to accept in his heart? There is a huge contradiction between the pressure caused by the long-term repression of the patriarchy and the deep feelings for the father. The son's long-term violation of yin and yang is actually a disguised resistance, and even the formation of the son's same-sex psychology cannot be said to be the same. Father's control is irrelevant.
The most touching scene is when Wei Tong went to his parents' room to kowtow, his mother grabbed his arm and bit him, his father recalled how he looked when he was a child, and his son was already an independent individual from his parents and could no longer bear his parents. Such an affectionate attitude towards him. Maybe all Chinese parents whose children grow up will be in tears watching this episode. In a blink of an eye, their children don’t need them as much as they did when they were children. The parents of the hometown could not help but red eyes. It is so difficult to distinguish between right and wrong family affection, that makes us do not know where to go in the new concept and old tradition. This is what Ang Lee means to the Chinese. He is fully aware of your conflicts and struggles, and he is quite considerate, because this conflict also belongs to him and to all Chinese.
The political color of politics
[wedding banquet] is very obvious, and the identities of the three people alone can be pondered. Ann's own unique depiction of the relationship between the United States, Taiwan, and the mainland in the new era. The American lover's free feeling towards Wei Tong is from his heart, and the director has shaped it into a very harmonious and natural love, but in the eyes of his traditional parents, it is a rebellious relationship. What my father said to Wei Tong and Wei Wei at the wedding can also be seen as the inability of the older generation of Taiwanese to abandon their old identities, and they still hope that there can be a successful conclusion in the blood relationship that has been cut off by Taiwan and the mainland. Wei Tong's reaction to Wei Wei is even more complicated. He thinks that his body is completely resistant to women, just like Wei Tong has already identified himself as an American in terms of identity, but Wei Wei's sentence "I want to liberate you" , he still reflected that the instinct of his male body, which symbolized his most fundamental identity as a descendant of Yanhuang, was still impossible to completely abandon.
The end of the film is a very ambiguous attitude. Although the older generation represented by his father seems to have withdrawn from the stage of history, the new generation represented by Wei Tong has fallen into a deeper contradiction. The contradiction between feelings and responsibilities may have to be slowly resolved and overcome in the longer term. I wonder what kind of ending will be given if the current Ang Lee shoots [The Wedding Banquet] again?
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