EUROPEAN PREMIERE
Marry My Dead Body
關於我和鬼變成家人的那件事 (Guan Yu Wo He Gui Bian Cheng Jia Ren De Nei Jian Shi)
Taiwan, 2023, 129’, Mandarin, Taiwanese
Directed by: Cheng Wei-hao
Screenplay: Wu Chin-jung, Cheng Wei-hao, Wu Yi-chien, Feng Chi-chun, Liao Min-kai
Photography (color): Chen Chi-wen
Editing: Chen Hui-chun
Production Design: Y.C. Kuo, Chen Hsuan-shao
Music: Kay Liu
Producer: Lin Shih-ken
Cast: Hsu Kuang-han (Wu Ming Han), Austin Lin (Mao-mao), Gingle Wang (Lin Tzu Ching), Tou Chung-hua (Mao’s Father), Tsai Chen-nan (Lin Hsiao Yuan), Wang Maan-chiao (Mao Chen A Lan), Ma Nien-hsien (Chang Yung Kang), Aaron Yan (Chen Chia Hao), Liu Kuan-ting (Police Officer)
Date of First Release in Territory: February 10th, 2023
It’s no secret that the Taiwan film industry has been ailing in recent years. For every box office hit like Man in Love and Incantation, there are at least a dozen other films that fail at the box office, despite positive word of mouth from both critics and audiences.
If there is an unsolved formula for creating a hit film in Taiwan, Cheng Wei-hao and his team have finally cracked it with Marry My Dead Body. Combining a hilarious idea, a cast of some of Taiwan’s hottest young film stars and a script that packs all the genres that can fit within a 129-minute story, Marry My Dead Body was already within reach of the all-time top ten grossing local films after just three weekends in cinemas. It has been so popular that there is even a prequel comic book.
Like Cheng’s previous blockbuster The Tag-Along, Marry My Dead Body’s concept tackles local superstitions, though it’s played for laughs in this case. In traditional Chinese culture, family members of deceased unwed people arrange “ghost marriages” for various reasons, including carrying on a family’s bloodline (the living bride would adopt a child who would carry the family name) or to absolve shame for the parents of an unwed daughter.
The reason for the ghost marriage in Marry My Dead Body is, fortunately, far less morbid. Ever since gay marriage was legalised in Taiwan, it has been Grandma Mao’s dream to see her gay grandson Mao-mao (Austin Lin) get married. When Mao-mao dies in a car accident, Grandma Mao tries to realise the dream by arranging a ghost marriage by tossing a red envelope on the street. The stranger who picks it up is fated to be Mao-mao’s groom.
Unfortunately, the one who picks it up is homophobic and misogynistic detective Ming Han (Hsu Kuang-han). He naturally tries to reject the match at first, but rejecting a destined marital match brings about an escalating series of bad luck. After nearly losing his life in an “accident”, Ming Han is forced to succumb to his fate and let the spirit of Mao-mao into his home. To send Mao-mao’s spirit on to reincarnation and out of his life, Ming Han agrees to help Mao-mao complete his unfinished tasks, which leads to a search for Mao-mao’s killer.
Despite being known for his horror films and gloomy thrillers, Cheng has surprisingly made a successful transition into comedy with Marry My Dead Body. The script by Cheng and Wu Chin-jung is full of physical and verbal gags that will be best enjoyed in a packed cinema. Cheng also playfully tosses in elements of action, family drama and even small dashes of horror to ensure the breakneck pacing never lets up. The kitchen sink approach works because Cheng pulls off a masterful juggling act, not taking itself too seriously as a comedy without losing sight of its need to move audiences by the end. Marry My Dead Body proves that Cheng is a Taiwanese cinema genre master in the making.
More importantly, Marry My Dead Body has become the most successful Taiwanese film ever to feature a gay lead character, smashing the record previously set by Your Name Engraved Herein. Though the film’s stars and creators are straight, it touts positive messages about the virtue of acceptance and unconditional familial love, regardless of sexual orientation. For that, Marry My Dead Body is more than just another blockbuster film – its success may have a positive effect on the stories and characters that get featured in future mainstream Taiwanese commercial films.
Cheng Wei-hao
In 2015, Cheng Wei-hao made a huge splash with the release of Golden Horse-winning short film The Death of a Security Guard and horror feature The Tag-Along. The latter became the highest-grossing Taiwan horror film ever at the time and kicked off a new horror wave in Taiwanese cinema. In 2021, his fourth feature film The Soul was nominated for 11 Golden Horse Awards, including Best Film and Best Director. Marry My Dead Body is his fifth feature film.
FILMOGRAPHY
2015 – The Tag-Along
2017 – Who Killed Cock Robin
2017 – The Tag-Along 2
2021 – The Soul
2023 – Marry My Dead Body