The Wedding Banquet

The Wedding Banquet (1993) was directed by Ang Lee. This film is about a Taiwanese man and his lover who live in New York city. They have to hid their love from his parents because in their culture being gay is  a sin. His mother has been on his back for years trying to get him married and have children. When he finds out that they are coming to America for a visit, he decides to marry one of his tenets in his building to get his parents off of his back. when his parents get to the city, they are co excited about the engagement  they throw a huge Taiwanese wedding. The lie becomes to huge problem for them who his father ends up in the hospital, his mother finds out that the marriage is a lie and the woman becomes pregnant with his child. It seems like everything has gone wrong but in the end of the film, the three of them decide to have to baby and all raise it together.

The theme of this film is family. Throughout the film the main character has to please his family by telling them his huge lie that becomes more than they can handle. By the end of the film, his mother and father who were so apposed to him being gay, realize that their son is still exactly who they thought he was. The whole family comes together during the hard times but still make it through everything together in the end.

I really enjoyed this film because it had both emotional moments and funny moments. It was interesting to see how a Taiwanese wedding goes down, it was a very elaborate event for every member of the family. It was nice to have the New York City background and also have the Taiwanese culture in one film.

Shanghai Triad

Shanghai Triad (1994) is a film from china directed by Zhang Yimou. This film is based off of 1930's Chinese mafia. The Shanghai crime family brings in new people to become part of the family. A young boy is brought in by his uncle who is killed by the mafia in a horrible killing in front of him. The boy decides to get revenge for his uncles death and becomes a part of the mafia for revenge. The boss had to keep a low profile so he is not killed. He brings the young buy and his mistress to an island to hid out. The mafia eventually finds them and the boss and mistress are killed, the boy and the young her on the island are captured by the mafia as servants.  We never get to see what happens to the boy and little girl but from what we saw happen to the mistress throughout the film it can't be good. The mistress had no life of her own and had to do everything she was told. Even though she had a glamours life, she was actually miserable. In the end of the film, we can only image what will happen to this little girl and the young boy.

The theme of the film is loyalty. All the character in the film must be loyal to the boss of the mafia. If they go against the boss or any of the higher ranked officers, they will be killed. The mafia is all about loyalty and if anyone goes against that there will be problems. The mistress has to abide by this because she was brought up in this life style and cannot leave, she has no other choice but to be loyal to the boss.

I am not a huge fan of Chinese films in general but having the mafia aspect to this film made it much more interesting. There was a good twist at the end of the film, not allowing the audience to know what happens to the remaining character leaves more to the imagination. The costumes and sets were beautiful which really made the film.

Trois Couleurs: Bleu

Bleu (1993) is a french film directed by Krazysztof Kieslowski. The films main character Julie, played by Juliette Binoche, centers around how her life has changed after the tragic car accident that killed her husband and daughter. Her husband was a major music composer and had a work that he was about to be finished before his death. Her husbands friends and colleges are trying to get her to finish the piece that he left behind. Because of this tragedy, Julie decides to change her whole life and get rid of anything that reminds her of her late family. We find out that she was having an affair with a college of her late husband, whom she also decides to cut out of her life. Throughout the film, Julie is struggling to let everything go from her life before her family died. By the end of the film, the man who Julie was having an affair with gets her to help him finish her late husbands piece and they compose it together.

The way the film was edited, the lighting and the music are what make this film as great as it is. As Julie is trying to figure out how to cope with life without her family, the music playing in the background is dramatic and mimics the piece that her husband was writing before he died. The lighting throughout the film has a bluish tint, hinting to the fact that she is struggling with the death of her family.

The director wrote two other films after this one, White and Red. This film is based on the theme of liberty, while the other others are based on equality and fraternity. The emotional liberty throughout this film are based on the struggle to survive after you lose everything. Julie needs to learn how to live life without her family, without everything she thought her life would be.

Bleu is a moving film that makes you really feel for the main character. Watching this film, you get to see her struggle first hand and feel how she felt when she lost everything and wanted to cut herself off from the world. the way the film was shot is my favorite part, the lighting and the music are beautiful and without that the film would not be the same. It gives it so much more emotion and depth.