Off the beaten path of mainstream cinema, this weekend sees the release of a Chinese-Korean collaboration titled A Wedding Invitation, a romantic comedy directed by Oh Ki-hwan and starring Bai Bai-he (Love is Not Blind) and Eddie Peng (Tai Chi Zero)
After years of a seemingly perfect relationship, Li Xiang (Eddie Peng) proposes to the woman he loves but his girlfriend Qiao Qiao (Bai Bai-he) decides it’s time to breakup in order to allow the two to pursue their own dreams separately (she’ll be a famous designer and he a famous chef). The couple signs a contract stating that in five years, if both are still single they will go ahead and marry each other.
Fast forward five years and Qiao Qiao, excited to visit Li Xiang after seeing how his life has progressed and eager to marry him, receives a phone call from him inviting her to his wedding. Upon hearing this news, Qiao Qiao makes a dash for Beijing in an attempt to win Li Xiang back and find a way to cancel the upcoming marriage.
As this reunion in the making continues, Qiao Qiao eventually receives some troubling news that’ll test the commitment and dedication of Qiao Qiao and Li Xiang’s possible love for her.
I sat down to watch A Wedding Invitation having not read the synopsis and expected your standard rom-com, I didn’t expect any surprises, just your typical laughs, the leads bickering and an ending that you could see coming from a mile away. Instead what I got was rather different, it was a film that didn’t follow your typical romantic trajectory and in fact has a solid twist about three quarters of the way through to keep you on your toes.
When Qiao Qiao returns to Beijing to meet up with Li Xing, everything about their past relationship seems to be a distant memory with Li Xing treating her as a well liked old friend, providing the necessary hospitality but also being frank and a bit of a dick. He invites her out to come wedding dress shopping with him and his fiancé, he brings her over to his parents with his fiancé and prepares a few delicious meals for her since she is a very picky eater and is basically a stubborn food snob and overall super critic. Seriously, why would any ex invite their ex or go with their ex to look at wedding dresses, that’s just cruel and unjust.
As he makes it clear that he is not interested in her and is now only focused on the wedding, his wife-to-be and competing in the finals of the King Cuisine Asian Challenge where he could become the chef of a restaurant with three Michelin stars, Qiao Qiao sets out to break all the rules, lie to everyone and do everything possible to win him over. Her des
peration is rather pathetic and her life would have been so much easier if she was honest and upfront.
Once all of the fun happens and the twist is revealed, the movie takes a super dramatic turn shortly after, going into a depressive and emotional mode that’ll bring you way down, the tone doing a complete 180 that you just don’t’ expect. This turn is hinted a few times throughout the movie but it’s almost impossible to figure it out and that’s what I really enjoyed most about the movie and going in blind. Director Oh manages to make this instant transition pretty smooth and found away to balance it with the rest of the film and end the picture on an uplifting note.
Overall, A Wedding Invitation wasn’t what I was expecting and that’s a good thing. Even though it is labeled as a romantic comedy it’s more of a light hearted romantic film that takes a heavy step into the dramatic category towards the end. There wasn’t exactly much to laugh at but the film will have you smirking at the characters’ actions and whining dialogue as you wonder where the film is headed. If you’re looking for a romantic Asian film that doesn’t follow your standard romantic trajectory then I suggest you give this easy to watch movie a shot.
Rating: An easy, briskly moving romantic comedy that doesn’t follow the cookie cutter formula you expect it to (6/10)
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