Matrimony is a Deeply Atmospheric Ghost Story
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Matrimony is engaging through interesting characters and an intense creepy tone, and will strike a chord with those who’ve felt how painful love can be.
Written by James “Crypticpsych” Lasome
August 10, 2011
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Release: 2007 (China), July 26, 2011 (US DVD)
Directed by: Hua-Tao Teng
Written by: Qianling Yang and Jialu Zhang
Starring:
Bingbing Fan as Xu Manli
Leon Lai as Shen Junchu
Rene Liu as Sansan
Songzi Xu as Rong Ma
Junchu (Leon Lai) is deeply in love with Manli (Bingbing Fan), a local radio personality. While he’s wanted her for a long time, he has found himself unable to pop the question. Unfortunately for him, on the day he finally is ready Manli is killed in an automobile accident while crossing a road to see him. Massively grief-stricken, Junchu collects all her belongings, keeping them locked in the attic of his house and obsessing over her. In an attempt to help her son move on, his mother arranges for him to marry Sansan (Rene Liu). While Junchu does so, he treats Sansan poorly and continues to brood over his lost love. He also flat refuses to let Sansan into his life in almost any way and forbids her from entering his attic room. This doesn’t stop Sansan from hearing strange sounds coming from overhead.
One day, while attempting to listen, she seems to be almost supernaturally “given” the key to the locked room. Inside, Sansan discovers the extent of her husband’s fixation… and the spirit of his dead love. All Manli wants is to be with Junchu again... all Sansan wants is for Junchu to treat her like his wife. Now both of them must determine how far they’re willing to go and what they’re willing to do to fulfill their desires.
Solely
from the box art of China’s Matrimony (aka The
Matrimony or Xin Zhong You Gui),
you’d be forgiven if you thought the movie was a straight gory horror
movie. Instead it’s mostly an atmospheric supernatural love drama. It’s
the atmosphere, along with the story and performances that make the
movie worthwhile.
In terms of the atmosphere, the film has a very dark, mildly dreamlike feel that helps amp up the tension of the story considerably. While the story generally isn’t classically scary, it’s things like the dark attic room filled with covered objects, the interactions with ghost Manli, or the empty feel of the manor house that help create a feeling of tension and dread in an otherwise dramatic story. Through excellent use of flashback, Sansan’s relationship with Junchu and his relationship with Manli are not only clearly explained but also believable and emotionally complex. When Sansan feels unloved by Junchu, we want her to be happy. When Junchu obsesses over Manli, we understand why. When Manli wants to be with Junchu, we want her to have her wish. And when Manli and Sansan’s desires converge, the various decisions that all three characters make have deep emotional impacts, helping realistically show the pain, heartache, joy, or euphoria that being in love can bring.
Matrimony, however, is mildly crippled by a few issues.
First, while the film is only about 90 minutes long, it moves very
slowly, only building into the sort of supernatural thriller the box
art promises in the last third of the film. While some may be able to
handle the slow burn, it 
probably would have been possible
to cut a few
things from the story (like some of Junchu’s mother). Secondly, the
climax of the film would have made a fantastic, dark, depressing, and
impactful ending to the tale. Unfortunately, that’s not the conclusion.
After the “ending” scene, an additional few minutes happen which raise
questions about everything that happened prior, ending Matrimony
on a weaker note than if the film had ended a bit earlier.
The use of computer-generated effects can detract from a film if they do not seem to fit, and Matrimony falls into this category. The spirit of Manli is fine as a character, but dissolves into frame in an effect totally out of place with the feel of the movie. A similar issue occurs later on when Manli dissipates via computer effect. The most egregious example occurs before the opening credits roll; When Manli gets hit by the car, she cartoonishly flies off screen in an effect so bad that I had to rewatch the scene to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. Having an effect that bad lead to the emotional conflict of the movie only hurts the film early on and adds unnecessary, out-of-place comedy to what should be an impactful scene.
In the end, Matrimony is worth a look, particularly for fans of atmosphere and Asian ghost stories. It’s by no means the best of its genre, being hurt by a slow pace, an ambiguous ending, and computer miscues. However, the story, acting, and atmosphere outweigh those negatives and make Matrimony a satisfying, dark, and realistic look at the effect that love has on us all.
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