‘Mistress Dispeller’ REVIEW: All sides of the triangle
‘Mistress Dispeller’ REVIEW: All sides of the triangle
Teacher Wang talking to someone on the phone
Three is a suffocating, damaging crowd especially inside a relationship, at least a monogamous one. Adding a fourth one in the mix who will manipulate and break up affairs is a booming business in China. Elizabeth Lo's Mistress Dispeller, her sophomore full-length documentary, focuses on this practice that is growing popular in the region, while not failing to shed some empathy on the people involved: the wife, the cheating husband, and the mistress.
Mistress Dispeller opens with a disclaimer: everything you will witness on screen is true. No fiction, no manipulations. This is essential on Lo's part. It’s easy to mistake the documentary as fiction, especially if you arrive late to the screening. The film follows a real case of infidelity between a married couple in which the wife seeks out the help of Wang Zhenxi (or Teacher Wang) who is an expert in ending extramarital affairs.
The editing hooks you in the drama of the entire ordeal and, sometimes, it’s impossible to believe that the film is a documentary. Elizabeth Lo’s cinematography is static, allowing for these intimate conversations to flow naturally and displays Teacher Wang’s talent in mistress dispelling in full display. Even the music chosen for this film (Madame Butterfly is one of them) elevates the documentary to such dramatic levels, though not too much.
The film wouldn't work without Teacher Wang. She is more than the subject of the film, she is somehow the “puppet master” of the whole production. If you are wondering how they managed to film the mistress, Fei Fei, and the husband, Mr. Li, for a documentary about mistress dispelling: they were not aware of it at the beginning. Fully committed to her job and the documentary, Teacher Wang’s associates contacted them to be a part of a series of videos about love and dating in China.
Lo said during the talkback how much Teacher Wang would contact them when to shoot or where to shoot and they would just show up. As for how much Mrs. Li, Mr. Li, and Fei Fei were able to confess their innermost thoughts in the presence of Teacher Wang: Lo also mentioned that the reason they chose her as the subject of the whole documentary is her method of mistress dispelling, which is psychological for the most part, that sets her apart from her peers. She gets her clients to trust and open up to her without ever prodding and forcing herself into their lives.
Normally in stories of betrayal, we often root for the aggrieved party and put all our sympathies towards them. Mrs. Li, ever so eager to save her marriage despite discovering the betrayal, hires Teacher Wang to save her marriage. We see her tearfully explain how she found out her husband was cheating on him. Despite her best efforts, the spark in their marriage has already gone out. She doesn't want to let him go, even saying how much of a good person he is.
A typical love triangle story would play out like this: the cheating husband and the mistress will be painted as villains and the audience will cheer ceremoniously after their eventual break-up and downfall. It is the easiest path for a narrative to have a clear, uncomplicated plot. Lo isn’t interested in this and, instead, through Teacher Wang’s methods, we get to see the sides of Mr. Li and Fei Fei and the dynamics of their relationship.
At one point, Teacher Wang even says to her employee that the mistress is often the most vulnerable one in this dynamic, and we see this ring true to Fei Fei’s part. Even though we disagree with the arrangement she consented to, we can relate to her as she starts to open up to the audience about her innermost feelings.
Fei Fei on the hairdresser
It is undoubtedly a bold endeavor that requires careful planning and concise execution for it to succeed. What would've happened if the concerned parties backed out in the middle of filming, or worse yet, after the filming, they ended up suing the production for airing out their dirty laundry for people to see?
Originally, the documentary would have covered six couples facing a similar problem and Lo’s original vision was to take a look at their ordinary lives and how they navigate the bustling economy of China while dealing with their marital dilemmas. Others backed out, but luckily, all worked out in the end for the one couple that stuck until the end.
At the climax of the documentary, Teacher Wang managed to arrange a meeting between Fei Fei and Mrs. Li. We see how they try to restrain themselves from bursting. Lo said in the talkback how they encountered these struggles and even joked about returning to making documentaries about animals (referring to her debut documentary Stray) for it is easier and the production wouldn't take three years to finish.
Out of the safety of not endangering Teacher Wang’s job, Elizabeth Lo vowed not to release the documentary in China. It’s a shame that Chinese people, the very people who will relate to the documentary, will never get the chance to see it screening in their motherland but it is a completely understandable choice.
As an outsider, Mistress Dispeller is an interesting and unique documentary that captures a complicated relationship in such a sympathetic light. It also offers a new way of making and viewing a documentary, one with empathy and understanding to those involved despite the actions they committed.
Mistress Dispeller screened at the 12th QCinema International Film Festival as part of the Asian New Wave competition category, bagging the Asian Next Wave Best Director award last November 13, 2024.
The author would like to thank Kieff Iporac for providing a transcript of the talkback held on November 10, 2024.
