098. The Wedding Banquet (2025): Interview with Director Andrew Ahn

Director Andrew Ahn is back for a three-peat with his new film The Wedding Banquet, a re-imagining of Ang Lee’s 1993 classic. We chat with Ahn about his updates to the original to capture the new nuances of queer lives today, get behind the scenes tidbits of his time working with his incredible AAvengers cast, and see how the original and his remake have shaped him on a personal level. The Wedding Banquet is currently premiering in the United States, get tickets in the cinema! Get married at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.comTimestamps:(00:00:00) Intro(00:02:13) Film Synopsis(00:03:00) General Reactions (spoiler-free)(00:05:42) Spoiler warning (for both films)(00:06:21) Interview begins(00:12:45) Reimagining The Wedding Banquet(00:13:38) Ahn's first encounter with the original(00:15:19) Adapting with James Schamus(00:17:14) Ahn's updates to the original(00:23:05) Stylistic shifts(00:26:13) New concerns for an evolving queer audience(00:27:48) The films’ endings(00:33:07) New families(00:34:06) The original being more subversive(00:36:00) Watching Ahn's version before Ang's(00:36:54) Connection between Ahn's features(00:38:40) Giving actors their due(00:41:29) Casting the ensemble(00:46:32) Good acting vs most acting(00:48:54) Directing a scene(00:52:01) Editing(00:53:41) Modern gay rom coms(00:55:28) Landscape and location(00:58:44) Coincidences(01:01:49) Has Ang Lee seen the remake?(01:03:19) Eat Drink Man Woman Sidebar(01:05:36) Cinematography(01:08:34) Favorite moment on set(01:11:23) Artmaking as personal diary(01:15:36) The artwork in the film(01:16:19) Directing Youn Yuh-jung(01:18:09) Good filmmaking(01:19:58) Wrap-up