The restoration of ‘My Favourite Season’, a film released in 1985 and then largely forgotten or not even exhibited to audiences outside of Taiwan, gives Chen Ku-ho‘s work another chance to shine. The film offers a rather unusual take on the romantic comedy, by turning the generic structure on its head.
The two protagonists form a marriage of convenience, as the female lead, Liou Hsiang-mei (Sylvia Chang) becomes pregnant at the beginning of the story, and decides to find a husband so that the child could have a surname. The male character, Bi Bao-liang (Jonathan Chung-Shan) is initially reluctant to the idea: “I can’t date women younger than thirty”, he explains mysteriously. After a while, he warms to the idea and the two put pen to paper and sign a contract to become husband and wife for a year. Improbable as it sounds, the film’s exaggerated premise allows for an exploration of relationship dynamics in an aromantic setup. The two are like fire and water, with Hsiang-mei’s happy-go-lucky approach to life (and money, especially) clashing with Bao-liang’s frigid and organised lifestyle.
My Favourite Season is screening at BFI for Myriad Voices: Reframing Taiwan New Cinema
Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the film is the ambiguity of the central relationship. Whilst Bao-liang’s attraction to Hsiang-mei is spelled out clearly from the first sequences, in which he admires her beauty, the reciprocation isn’t that clear. Despite the initial practical nature of the arrangement, the two protagonists ultimately form a platonic and caring bond. The ‘will they – won’t they’ tension, central to the genre, here isn’t just a structural device, but rather a real mystery. This is most centrally a testament to the performances of two leads, with their on-screen chemistry being in flux. In some of the scenes, their dialogue exchanges have a certain broken rhythm of a more theatrical, rather than naturalist performance. However, in other segments there is a flow and playfulness between the two, making it even less clear whether the newlyweds simply try to make the arrangement work, or if they really fall for each other.
This is captured most vividly and directly in a scene in which they lie together in bed, looking at each other and looking if the other one is still looking. Such interplay would normally be obvious to read, however Chang’s and Chung-Shan’s interpretation of it is leaning more into the comical territory. It should be added, that there is also a third character in that scene, laying between the husband and wife in bed, that is: Hsian-mei’s adolescent niece whom he helps to raise. This further complicates the dynamic, as the two leads are not only husband and wife, but also father and mother of circumstance. Such setup, reminiscent of Hirokazu Koreeda‘s patchwork families, adds another caveat to the relationship, making the characters’ desires even less legible.
A lesser-known film in the Taiwan New Cinema movement, ‘My Favourite Season’ compares to the other works from the same period not only due to its playful approach to genre rules, but also thanks to the modern depiction of gender norms. Chung-Shan’s Bao-liang is an example of more contemporary masculinity. His fragility to criticism and pride, despite an innocent demeanour, make him a complex character who is an equal match to Hsiang-mei. The female lead, with her expressivity and confidence, brings chaos to the boring and structured life of Bao-liang. Underneath a more practical side of her, there is another layer of unfulfilled desire and resentment, which spills over in the climactic part of the film.
‘My Favourite Season’ also fits into the wider context of the Taiwanese New Wave movement due to its interest in the urban lifestyle and a more documentary approach to cinematography. Whilst many sequences are framed and lit in a rather uninspired, domestic setup, they are interspersed with other scenes shot in the city, often positioning the characters in chaotic traffic. This is further explored by the interest in workspaces, which also serve as sets for many of the interactions. One of the film’s final shots of Bao-liang’s melancholy, soft-lit face looking out of the skyscraper window looks like taken straight out of Edward Yang‘s oeuvre. It shouldn’t be surprising however, given that the film’s director Chen Kun-ho, before shooting ‘My Favourite Season’ worked with Hou Hsiao-Hsien as a cinematographer in the eighties.
In its most ridiculous and exaggerated points I couldn’t help but think of comparing ‘My Favourite Season’ to Norman Jewison’s ‘Moonstruck’. Whilst Chung-Shan’s performance is definitely much more toned down than Nicholas Cage’s, the two films demonstrate interest in suffering and adversity as modes that can cement a relationship as effectively, as unrestrained desire.
