My Love Affair with Marriage Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

My Love Affair with Marriage Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 1, 2024

If you had a relatively typical school experience, you probably encountered some kind of putative "sex education" either toward the end of elementary school, or beginning of junior high / middle school. For me personally, it was a newsreel type movie and "panel discussion" with our school counselor in sixth grade, an event made somewhat hilarious (even to us sixth grade boys, who already knew better) when this supposedly learned male adult kept pronouncing one of the main parts of the female reproductive system with a beginning "m" rather than a "v" (and, no, I'm not kidding). The vagaries of the "quality" of the American public school education system aside, and with tongue probably planted at least semi- firmly in cheek, some forward thinking school districts out there might want to consider showing My Love Affair with Marriage to at least girls in any "coming of age" class, since it's both "medically" astute in its biological, emotional and psychological content, but also provides a basic story that my hunch is many females in particular may feel particularly in tune with, where a young girl is convinced that Happily Ever After can only come in the form of "love at first sight" and, hopefully, marriage that (in this film's kind of cheeky formulation) pop songs in particular repeatedly promise. Real life has other plans for little Zelma (Dagmara Dominczyk), who has to contend with not just being an outcast at a new school, but also with her own Biology (voiced by Michele Pawk).

That "real life" aspect for Zelma may in fact be too harrowing for some young girls to watch, since after managing to slog through a school environment where she's more or less despised by the other girls and ignored by the boys (especially one she has a crush on), Zelma doesn't exactly experience happiness as an adult. Her initial sexual interactions leave her probably more confused than she was to begin with, and the two marriages the film depicts are less than successful, including the fact that her first husband is physically abusive. Somehow, though, writer and director Signe Baumane manages to keep things at least relatively breezy, aided in part by the kind of admittedly schizophrenic dual "POV" the film offers. One of these perspectives is that of Zelma herself, but the other, as mentioned above, is Zelma's so-called "Biology", a wacky conceit whereby the film offers what might be called the indie version of Inside Out.

The film also benefits from a distinctive animation style which combines practical 3D sets (miniatures) into which 2D animated figures are placed. The entire look of the film is kind of unexpectedly whimsical, given some of the roiling emotional content. Without wanting to get political, and only because as this review is being written "cat ladies" are the subject of considerable conversation (debate?), somewhat hilariously Zelma's imagination frequently has her turning into a cat, for whatever that's worth. There's also some appealing voice work from Matthew Modine and Stephen Lang.

My Love Affair with Marriage Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

My Love Affair With Marriage is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of MVD Visual with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. As indicated above, this charmingly animated affair actually uses a number of different techniques and approaches, which gives the overall look of the piece a somewhat heterogenous, but still integrated, feeling. The character animations are not exactly models of great detail, but line detail is secure and the palette often quite invitingly vivid. The practical items that show up as props and sets probably have better overall fine detail levels, at least in terms of textures and the like. The kind of whimsical disjunction between the "real" backgrounds and animated characters helps to keep things properly askew a lot of the time. The "interior" monologues by Biology often feature fun animations of various processes like cell cycles or even more diaphanous aspects like "flight or fight" syndrome.

My Love Affair with Marriage Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

My Love Affair With Marriage features LPCM 2.0 and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 options. This is not a whirlwind of surround activity type feature, but the 5.1 track noticeably opens up one of the film's most appealing conceits, a trio of singing "Mythology Sirens". The closing credits also offer a nice tune (with an admittedly odd lyric) sung by Storm Large from my hometown of Portland. The bulk of this piece, though, is spoken material, and often quasi-monologues or even quasi-narration offered by either Zelma or Biology, and all of that is perfectly well handled by the stereo track. Dialogue in any form is always rendered cleanly and clearly, if occasionally with some charming accents. Optional subtitles in several languages (including Latvian!) are included.

My Love Affair with Marriage Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (HD; 2:04)


• Penny W. Stamps Presents Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series (HD; 57:45) features a sweet Power Point presentation by Signe Baumane.

My Love Affair with Marriage Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Adding irony to the whole "cat lady" situation mentioned above is the fact that Zelma desperately wants to not be a "spinster" (as older verbiage may have termed such a person), and that desire actually ends up leading her down the primrose path to potential disaster. This is obviously a film about a woman coming to really know herself and to accept herself for what and whom she is, something that not so coincidentally ends up aligning with her need to understand certain, um, changes her second husband Bo undergoes. This is a unique, individual expression which I kind of have the hunch may end up appealing to women more than men, but one way or the other, Baumane is an interesting writer and a rather fascinating stylist. Technical merits are solid and the presentation by Baumane is very enjoyable. Recommended.