Granny Must Die doesn’t present itself as an intense psychological drama about growing old. Instead, director Chen Yi-Jung 陳怡蓉 opens with a comedic flourish. An older woman, Li Chun-Mei (Yang Li-Yin) snores loudly in one bed as her granddaughter, Jhong Huei-Ciao (Tammy Lin), creeps out of the twin bed beside her. Furtively, Huei-Ciao kneels on top of her grandmother. Then, the younger one gleefully suffocates her elder to death with a pillow.
“Grandma, go to hell!” Huei-Ciao declares triumphantly with a demented look in her eye.
But alas, it’s only a dream and Granny wakes up, only to cause unending mischief during daylight hours. Chun-Mei tries to free her granddaughter’s pet mouse Sweet Potato, from its cage. This troublemaking senior also steals her daughter-in-law’s expensive watch, mixes up the mail delivery, and interferes with her granddaughter’s love life.
On a brighter note, Chun-Mei fondly recalls memories of her first love with a young man eager to move to France. The young Chun-Mei, played by Ning Chang, is captivatingly innocent in contrast to her scheming behaviour as a senior.
Director Chen herself attended film school in Paris and injects French touches into Granny Must Die through the dialogue, comedic absurdity, music, art direction, and sketches. Even Granny’s highly attuned sense of fashion seems a little French.
An elegant and hyper-vigilant Granny
Some of the most memorable exchanges unfold between Chun-Mei and her exasperated granddaughter, played magnificently by the versatile Lin. Meanwhile, supporting cast members (Chang Shih-Ying as the daughter-in-law, Lan Wei-Hua as the son, and Chen Wan-Chun as Huei-Ciao’s young male friend) offer wonderful foils to Chun-Mei, letting her command scene after scene.
Yang plays this elegant and hyper-vigilant Granny with gusto. Her eyes dart around, giving the audience a rich understanding of her inner world. With impeccable timing, she’s constantly snooping into areas that are none of her business. And it’s plausible that someone in her Hakka-speaking family might want her out of the picture.
The director has employed a similar first-person perspective before. In Chen’s innovative virtual-reality project, Dora, she enabled audience members to experience what one of Sigmund Freud’s most famous patients felt like in therapy.
While Granny Must Die is exceedingly light-hearted, it’s not just mindless fun. In the wake of the zaniness, this film offers an entry point for families to have a serious discussion about how to deal with elderly parents. Granny Must Die is indeed a comedy with meaning—ideal for Lunar New Year when so many families get together over the holiday.
Watch the trailer (above) for Granny Must Die.
LunarFest GTA will present free screenings of Granny Must Die at 3 p.m. on February 1 and 1:15 p.m. on February 2 in the Deacon Room of the Varley Art Gallery. For more information, visit the LunarFest GTA website.
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