My Wedding and Other Secrets

This film is a romantic comedy about culture clash and acceptance. At times it feels more genuine than the hyper stylised Hollywood romance films, but at other times it feels more contrived. The most important thing is that the characters all felt real. By the way, it directly featured the exact building in which I was watching the film itself, which was a strange thing to see.

I set about this movie because there was nothing better to do, and after around 70 minutes I woke up to the fact I was better doing just about anything else than following this insipid tale to it's end. OK it was an obvious cheese fest, but this is a film I couldn't watch to maturity. It was unbearable watching the main character struggle with the 'I am upsetting my dad' story. How can a woman be so pathetic, and a total contradiction at the same time? Here she is, bending to the will of her dad, but so treating the man she has married with complete disrespect. Go figure. But, then they are Chinese... so that's OK. Forgive my Kiwiness. And that's where the story really starts to grate. The tale had no depth in terms of a story of two cultures divided. I suppose it was trying to win our charms on the 'cute' front. And it failed there. This story was so racist in the way it undermined all things Kiwi. I and everyone I should hope to meet love that Aotearoa is a melting pot of many cultures. However, I shudder that we should be at a stage where being held up as a Kiwi is of lesser value in the land we are raised. We learned about how to be Chinese, but not that living in New Zealand means adopting all that is wonderful about being Kiwi. And there's much to celebrate about that. I would like our film-makers to not make light of our new cultural identity, and to realize at last that it is our Kiwiness that is the forefront of all that our combined cultures are now blending into. Tall poppy syndrome? Let's drop it finally, aye? And accept ownership of what is actually a great identity, albeit it one swamped by a world few of us can now afford! In summary, yeah-Na.

The whole WMAF movement was probably a trendy topic when this film was made.. luckily this mentality is fading. I just think any form of art that exploits this depiction of making a white man seem superior in interracial relationships is disgusting, especially when you realize this whole union of Asian women becoming submissive to white men was started by war when American and European men were stationed in Asian countries. It's clear the filmmaker was just trying to glorify her own fetish but she should've been smarter about it and at least switched the genders so it would be an Asian man crossing cultures with a white woman.

Simply awful. I do not think such Chinese family exists. The parents are simply dictators and the daughters almost have no self-respects (in terms of chasing their own happiness). The portrait of the Chinese family is so distorted. The Chinese aren't like this at all. This is just some weird, suppressed, odd and pathetic family that only exists in a screen play.

The costumes are quite awful. How many people dress like Emily nowadays? Unbelievable. And the actress looks like she's 40 years old. Why can't she wear just a bit of make-up to look real everyday people?!

Watch at your own risk.

While the movie is billed as a "romance," the fact that it is based on a true story actually gives the film more of a dramatic edge than perhaps the title and the billing of the film fail to alert audiences too, and sadly, may deter those who love a great drama from going to see. So for those who wanna see a romantic film, you'll love this…and for those who love dramas, here is why you should see this film! My Wedding and Other Secrets is based on a documentary by Rosanne Liang called Banana In a Nutshell about her real life experiences; that in and of itself is part of the reasons why the film is so successful. Gone are all the nice ribbons and bows and cute little one-liners you would expect in a "romance" and instead you experience real characters with depth and with real conversation and interactions that are tangible. While in the end the film ends on a happy note as you'd expect from a romance, the journey to that point is littered with the complexities of human emotion, cultural differences, and the loving bond of family. Michelle Ang, who plays Emily Chu, does a wonderful job of creating a character torn between her love of a non-Chinese boyfriend and her family's "Chinese" expectations for their daughter. Emily is then pulled in so many directions in the film while she tries to decide what her life should be, and the best choices to make, and it is her performance that brings this drama to life. Matt Whelan, Pei-Pei Cheng, Kenneth Tsang and Mike Ginn all provide an exceptional supporting cast. Real life "Emily," Rosanne Liang, directed the film and her guidance has created a film with the perfect balance between romance and drama, making a very original "romance" film that is a great drama not to be missed.