Film Review #71: MARRY MY DEAD BODY (2023)

Film Review #71: MARRY MY DEAD BODY (2023)

关于我和鬼变成家人的那件事 (2023）

*This film review may contain plot spoilers, reader discretion is advised.*

*本篇影评含雷，请斟酌阅读。*

Taiwan’s 2023 Chinese New Year hit Marry My Dead Body (2023) started gaining traction as early as Winter 2022. Starring two of Taiwan’s hottest actors right now - Greg Hsu (Someday or One Day) and Austin Lin (I WeirDo), and rapidly rising actress Gingle Wang (Till We Meet Again), Marry My Dead Body is a highly entertaining supernatural action-packed comedy.

今年台湾最受瞩目的贺岁片《关于我和鬼变成家人的那件事》（简称《鬼家人》）早在 2022 年末就引起了华语影迷圈的广泛关注。由台湾两大男神许光汉、林柏宏，以及新生代女神王净领衔主演，《鬼家人》是一部不折不扣的喜剧，其中不仅有精彩的动作场面与特效，还有不少催泪的情节，娱乐性极高。

Film still from "Marry My Dead Body"  (Image source: The Projector)

Despite not being labeled as “BL (boys love)”, Marry My Dead Body does dive deep into the story of a homosexual lead character and explores the struggles of these men in society today, and is therefore unable to escape the R21 rating in Singapore. However,  as I exited the cinema hall, what stuck with me more was the comedy of this film, and even more so the crucial developments toward the end of the movie where several twists came about.

虽然官方并没有明显给本片贴上 “BL (boys love)” 标签，但两位男主之间微妙的感情戏显然是本片的最大卖点。也正因电影大部分涉及到现今特别受关注的同志议题（及环保议题等），本片在新加坡始终难逃「21岁限制级」的分级限定。电影将种种议题包裹在轻松的故事情节中，让我在踏出戏院时，脑海中仍然反复回放着电影里一个接着一个的笑点，还有电影接近尾声时一些重要的转折。

Film still from "Marry My Dead Body" 

As one navigates through this film, it becomes apparent how hard it must have been to make this film. From a technical point of view, this film unlocks a new achievement for Taiwan cinema. The iconic car chase near the start of the film was brought to the screen with some of the newest visual effects work ever delivered amongst Taiwanese films. Director Wei-hao Cheng is said to be a filmmaker who is very particular about special effects, and apart from the car chase, Wu and Mao’s first meet in Wu’s apartment bathroom is another example of massive special effects and post-production editing. For the latter scene, however, it is one of the film’s most important comedic moments and selling points, and is hence relatively fast-paced. As such, audience members who aren’t as well-versed with visual effects, props and other technical aspects of filmmaking might just focus on enjoying the comedy and not realise the hard work that went into some of the scenes.

如果探讨《鬼家人》的拍摄技术与艺术层面，你会发现这是一部非常不容易拍的电影。导演程伟豪也曾在某次访问中透露，他希望这部电影可以在视觉上为台湾创下新纪录。的确，追车戏应该说是本片中视觉效果及后期制作最下功夫的一场戏。虽然还不及好莱坞动作片的水准，但《鬼家人》已经是台湾电影当中目前为止拍追车戏制作得最精彩、视觉效果最佳的电影之一了。除了追车戏，电影也含有其它较小的特效 - 例如吴明翰与毛邦羽初次见面的浴室场景。由于每个画面都是以观众的笑声作为目标，再加上这场戏较快的剪辑节奏，每一个包含特效的镜头/画面都特别短，对于不太了解特效、道具、剪接、后制等等的观众来说，多半都只是看了哈哈笑死而已，这也是有点可惜的地方。

Film still from "Marry My Dead Body"  (Image source: The Projector)

Clocking approximately 2 hours, Marry My Dead Body isn’t your most bladder-friendly movie out there, but this is well-compensated by the film’s ability to capture and sustain attention throughout, by being impressively dynamic - mashing up numerous genres into one story: comedy, action, crime, fantasy, drama, family and romance; well-balanced pacing and storytelling; and just being aesthetically pleasing with three attractive leads fronting the film. Additionally, it certainly helped the film that Taiwan’s historic legalisation of same-sex marriages paved way for the telling of this story where it is the first of its kind portraying a same-sex ghost marriage on the big screen in Taiwan, and by extension, Asia.

论故事和剧本，《鬼家人》尽管长达两小时，因为片中时不时就会穿插一场又一场紧张或搞笑的情节，看着并不会觉得电影有任何地方拖泥带水。此外，虽然冥婚对大部分华人观众来说并不陌生，本片却以：1）在台湾已经同性婚姻合法化的前提下让两个男生作为故事里冥婚的主角；2）活着的新郎是一个“钢铁直男”的形象，从而给电影增添了不少新鲜感。更何况，男主角二人正是当红的“全民男友/老公”，无疑让电影的吸引力加倍飙升。

Film still from "Marry My Dead Body" 

As commercially driven as this film is, Marry My Dead Body is no less both an artistic and technical achievement than many of its non-blockbuster counterparts. Apart from director Wei-hao Cheng’s mastery, especially with his high ideals relating to action sequences and effects, the story is also very engaging. Its twists in the second half of the film result in a balanced stretch of comedic moments, fast-paced action and emotional scenes. To top it off, a stellar cast was brought onboard to bring this story to life - the three leads: Greg, Austin and Gingle, have frequented Taiwan’s television and film awards in recent years; the film’s supporting cast is even more stacked - featuring veteran actors Tsung-hua Tuo, Chen-nan Tsai and Man-chiao Wang, with a guest appearance by “dual-gold” recipient (Taiwan’s Golden Bell Television Awards and Golden Horse Film Awards) Kuan-ting Liu. Every one of these mentioned performers nailed their part.

这部电影固然偏大众化，不过它在技术与艺术两方面实现的效果并不亚于其它许多典型的 “艺术片”。这其中导演程伟豪的努力、细心功不可没。除了高难度的动作、特效等，这部电影的故事有许多转折（电影后半更为突出），氛围也随时跟着情节发展时而轻松搞笑，时而紧张，时而又感人或悲伤。与此同时，本片的演员们也都呈现了令人赞叹的演出。除了三位男女主角都是近年来台湾电视、电影奖项的常客以外，配角演员阵容更是不容小觑：有资深演员庹宗华、蔡振南及王满娇等人，以及“双金”（金钟、金马）得主刘冠廷客串。

As some find Marry My Dead Body a highly commercial film, a plot development such as bidding farewell between Wu and Mao is not unexpected, but still a guaranteed tearjerker. However, I personally locked in my high score for the film’s story and screenplay at this particular point in the movie. This scene where Mao’s father confides in Wu his regret and love toward his deceased son, numerous moments in the film which were otherwise slightly confusing came to make sense and essentially covered many plot holes. Some may argue this was expected of the film and isn’t something particularly outstanding to give praises for. However, considering many other films fail to achieve the above, Marry My Dead Body all the more creates a complete and wholesome viewing experience for its audiences.

此外，接近片尾的典型的“离别戏”总是赚取观众泪水。而我则是在这里给本片的故事和剧本打了很高的分数。电影倒数第二场戏：吴明翰与毛爸在医院病房的对话，将故事里一些关键发展都交代清楚。也许有些观众会说，这是电影本来就该做到的，但事实上有不少其它电影并没有很好地做到这一点，所以《鬼家人》完整的故事讲述和观影体验显得更难能可贵。

Film still from "Marry My Dead Body" 

Fantasy-comedy, action-comedy, comedy with a ghost being the protagonist - these are all existing genres and subgenres within the cinematic universe, but as these genres and subgenres combine into one film, along with the exploration of various current and relevant social issues such as homosexuality and environmentalism, the end product is an entertaining film with a fresh take on different matters, but also evokes a sense of  familiarity amongst audiences, and ultimately an enjoyable watch..

Despite the profanities in this film, and the numerous scenes of male nudity, Marry My Dead Body remains a film that moviegoers of almost any demographic can enjoy. Moreover, a Chinese New Year hit as it is, Marry My Dead Body is a rare fit whereby both its technical and artistic demands were met with very high standards which then warrants even greater support at the film’s box office.

奇幻、动作、以鬼为主角、喜剧，这些都不是新题材。不过当这些元素和冥婚、同志与环保议题等综合起来，得出的是一个即新鲜，同时又有点熟悉，非常对观众胃口的观影体验。《鬼家人》虽然含有一些粗俗俚语、裸露画面等，可它真的是一部适合各个年龄段的观众观看的贺岁电影。此外，作为一部贺岁片，却在技术与艺术双方面都完成得这么高水准，更是值得观众去支持与观看！

Marry My Dead Body (2023) scored 4 stars on my Letterboxd.

综合来看，我在 Letterboxd 给《关于我和鬼变成家人的那件事》打 4 颗星。

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About the Author: Jarrett is a devoted cinephile for over half of his life. Apart from movies, coffee keeps him awake and music keeps him alive. Having studied theatre and performed as an actor before, he's also a sucker for great performances.

Follow Jarrett on Letterboxd: https://boxd.it/2JImT