Neither Fanny (Effy Han) or Jeff (Jeff Man) are looking for a relationship of any kind when they enter the bonds of matrimony in “Paper Marriage,” getting hitched when the former’s H-1B visa is set to expire soon and she’ll have to give up the life she’s spent years building in the States to move back to her native China. It was thought by the mutual friend (Yosilu Chen) that set them up that at least they’d have a language in common, but it turns out that Jeff only can speak enough Cantonese to get by as the first-gen son of Chinese American parents while Fanny is more comfortable in her native Mandarin, an auspicious start for a four-year commitment that will require the two to cohabitate and know each other well enough to pass a random exam from INS.
The arrangement isn’t an unusual one on screen where plenty of couples have faked their way towards a real romance, but in writer/director/star Man’s thoughtful feature debut, it becomes a guise for something else when the filmmaker puts a subversive spin on the already irony-rich premise as Jeff, the U.S. resident with no immigration issues to speak of, is the one who looks out of his depths. There’s a slight uphill climb to reach Fanny’s house at the start of “Paper Marriage” that starts to look even steeper once Jeff is actually inside the house, with a clear unease about the whole situation, even the part that should put his mind at rest when his bills covered by the $1000 a month his bride-to-be will pay him and free room and board. While Fanny has only recently come to America and burdened by the knowledge she might not be able to stay, her life is full of the achievements that have been elusive for Jeff, from a steady career as an IT consultant to regular companionship in the form of a friend with benefits named Liam (Will Dowsett).
However, Fanny has an ability to put up a good front, which Man cleverly employs to upend expectations when it should serve her well when it comes to passing any scrutiny about their marriage from government officials, but less so when it becomes apparent the prospect of a loveless union is enticing for reasons beyond staying in the country when she’s resisted any real intimacy in her life. There’s never a suggestion that she’ll ever be more than friends with Jeff, but “Paper Marriage” is all the more intriguing because of it as the two’s emotional incompatibility comes to the fore when they have all the time in the world to find a less complicated connection. A simple bond may be hard to come by for Jeff and Fanny, but it’s pretty instant for an audience when beyond Man and Han’s endearing performances are accompanied by a delicate score from Goh Nakamura gently accentuating the growing harmony in the relationship and Norbert Shieh’s unfussy compositions have a casual beauty about them. Love may not be in the air here, but it’s in every frame of “Paper Marriage” where the nuptials are a means to an end that open up a whole range of possibilities for both its characters and its director.
“Paper Marriage” does not yet have U.S. distribution.