Seventh Row is a nonprofit Canadian film criticism publication and publishing house. We're dedicated to helping you expand your horizons by curating the best socially progressive films from around the world and helping you think deeply about them. This newsletter is run by Seventh Row (http://seventh-row.com) but features exclusive content not found on the website.
Andrew Ahn's The Wedding Banquet - the queer comedy we need right now
|
Hello Reader, Last weekend, I went to see Andrew Ahn's new film The Wedding Banquet (2025) which updates and reimagines Ang Lee's 1993 queer classic for a 2025 audience. Admittedly, I was a little skeptical. Much as I liked Lee's film and Ahn's feature debut Spa Night, I wondered...do we really need to revive this rather dated story 30 years later? But I went to see it because, if nothing else, I will watch anything with Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon, Certain Women, and Lockdown Film School speaker) in it. (I should have known that Oscar Winner Youn Yuh-jung would also pull on all of my heartsrings.) And I was surprised by how absolutely delighted and moved I was. In fact, it was kind of cathartic to note just how much the world has changed for queer people in the last 30 years. Even more surprisingly? I think you should see this in a cinema for the sound design, which brings the film an uncommon tenderness and intimacy in its second, quieter half. Episode 168: Andrew Ahn's The Wedding Banquet (2025)Today on the podcast, I recommends Andrew Ahn’s delightful remake/reimagining of Ang Lee’s 1993 queer rom-com The Wedding Banquet. I look at the film through the lens of adaptation and how updating the film for 2025 means this is a story of more internal conflicts than external ones. And I talk about Ahn's excellent use of sound design, blocking, and editing -- which elevate this film as more than just a fun distraction, to a sensitive, nuanced character drama with thoughtful filmmaking. Of course, the film is a lot of fun, and will make you laugh, something we desperately need in an era of increasing attacks on LGBTQ+ rights). But it's also a lot more than that, thanks to Ahn's filmmaking and especially the performances from Gladstone, Youn, and Joan Chen. Happy watching/listening! Alex
|
Seventh Row
Seventh Row is a nonprofit Canadian film criticism publication and publishing house. We're dedicated to helping you expand your horizons by curating the best socially progressive films from around the world and helping you think deeply about them. This newsletter is run by Seventh Row (http://seventh-row.com) but features exclusive content not found on the website.
Hello Reader, I didn't expect to watch Jane Austen Wrecked My Life three times last week. But I did. I couldn't help myself. The first time was to jog my memory so I could record this week's podcast. The second was because it brought me such ecstatic joy that I wanted to relive it. The third was to obsess over the details in writer-director Laura Piani's exquisite filmmaking. Why does this film fill me with glee and laughter? (It's definitely the verbal wit. But it's the visual wit, too.) How...
Hello Reader, It can be easy for some of us to forget how recent the “bad old days” were — when queer couples were still jumping through hoops to be seen, recognized, allowed. Alice Douard’s debut feature, Love Letters, just premiered in Critics’ Week — one of the lesser-publicized sidebars at Cannes (which I broke down on Ep. 171 of the podcast). It’s not available to watch yet — but it’s one to keep an eye out for. And if you’re curious about how it captures a very recent chapter of queer...
Hello Reader, We’re midway through this year’s Cannes Film Festival — and while it hasn’t made many headlines, seven women directors are in Competition this year. That’s the most in the festival’s history. It’s progress — but it’s also a reminder of how far we still are from gender parity. And most of those seven are white women. Many of the best women directors working today are still relegated to sidebars… or left out entirely. In Episode 1 of our Women at Cannes series on the Seventh Row...