Out of China comes the horror movie The Matrimony, a tale of love and death and being with your loved one after you've experienced death. It's a premise we've seen before, and naturally so: ghosts are usually dead people who have more left to do on earth, and why not be about missing your loved ones? The Matrimony tells the tale of Junchu (Leon Lai), a man who was ready and willing to marry his beloved Manli (Fan Bing Bing). On the outset of the story, we see Manli riding her bike through the streets, and Junchu waiting to greet her. As soon as the two lock eyes from across the street, Manli is run over by a car or two, ending her life.
Some time after, we learn that Junchu has been arranged to marry Sansan (Rene Liu), a woman for whom he has no feelings, except for a bit of contempt. She is as nice as possible and tries to fill the role of the wife, but Junchu proves to be emotionally unreachable, and still thinks about Manli.
Coincidentally, Manli is still thinking about Junchu, or at least, her ghost is. Sansan begins to see and hear mysterious things in her house, and soon enough, Manli's ghost materializes before her, and after the routine "oh god you're a ghost," the two form an agreement that will allow Manli to, in a sense, possess Sansan's body and therefore sort of "be" with her beloved Junchu. Things eventually go haywire, and Manil's ghost goes on bit of a spooky tirade.
One of the best aspects of this movie is how good it looks. It's not sloppy in its presentation, that is, until there are any kind of special visual effects. If a movie doesn't have the funds to convincingly pull of a woman getting hit by oncoming traffic, then cut around it. When Manli gets hit by the cars and dies, it might be the most laughably bad example of a death-by-car ever filmed. All that had to occur to spare the laughter was to cut around it. And the same laughable feeling happens whenever Manli's ghost materializes. Do we have to see her come into frame in a digital smoke that does nothing except distract the audience? Honestly, Ghost Dad did it better.
But Ghost Dad didn't look as good, nor were the actors as effecting, (sorry, Bill). The Matrimony is well acted, and the characters, for the most part, seem pretty well rounded. The major flaw however, one that really brings the movie down a level, is that Sansan never really seemed to have any love for Junchu, yet she goes along with Manli's dangerous plan. For Manli to be able to do what she needs to, Sansan has to go underwater and hold her breath until she is about to die, that way Manli can enter her body. But a few scenes previous, we see Junchu's and Sansan's crippled relationship as it always has existed. What's Sansan's reasoning for going along with this terrifying ghost's plan? It weakens her character, one with whom the audience is supposed to sympathize the most.
Considering the low-budget the movie was made for, it's more than an accomplishment as to how good it looks, and good actors are hard to come by. It's a shame that director Hua-Tao Teng didn't shy away from hokey digital effects. The ending itself is also a bit of a surprise, and an unpredictable one at that. The filmmakers seemed to be aspiring to become another unforgettable horror movie, and if they had stuck to the writing and direction and ditched the CGI, they would have come closer to achieving it.
Extras:
There are individual interviews with the cast and crew, and a couple different versions of the movie's trailer.
"The Matrimony" is on sale July 26, 2011 and is not rated. Horror. Directed by Hua Tao Teng. Written by Quianling Yang, Jialu Zhang. Starring Fan Bing Bing, Leon Lai, Rene Liu.
