SXSW 2020 Film Review: I Will Make You Mine
A Low-key Trilogy Comes to a Bittersweet Close
I’ve never been to a film festival. 2020 was supposed to mark my first time at both SXSW and Tribeca, and as accredited press, no less. Unfortunately, due to the coronavirus pandemic, both events have been either canceled or postponed; but as disappointed as I am, I feel greatly for the artists and creators who lost their chances to showcase their labors of love. Last month, however, I was lucky enough to catch I Will Make You Mine, Lynn Chen’s directorial debut that was supposed to premiere at SXSW in March. A rhythmic and bittersweet endcap to a low-key film trilogy, I Will Make You Mine is a confident debut that not only adds texture to the saga of the Surrogate Valentine films before it, but also stands alone as an indie gem, applying a refreshing lens to existing characters. Minor spoilers ahead…
In 2011, director Dave Boyle debuted Surrogate Valentine at SXSW, a slight and sweetly lyrical indie centered around a fictionalized version of real-life musician Goh Nakamura. The film follows the nomadic bard as he navigates life and love on the road, painting a charming portrait of mumblecore misadventure and romance. Against all odds, Boyle and Nakamura returned a year later for a sequel, Daylight Savings, which continued the singer’s odyssey of missed connections and romantic entanglements. And while Daylight Savings offered some clarity in its ending, the terminus of Nakamura’s journey was still very much up in the air: Would the wayward musician ever find his match? Would he ever settle down?
Through the intervening years, it seemed that we would never get an answer regarding Goh Nakamura’s ultimate fate. Enter actress and filmmaker Lynn Chen (Saving Face, Silicon Valley), who, through a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, was able to direct and produce I Will Make You Mine. Pulling double duty directing as well as reprising the role of Rachel from the first two films, Chen takes the charming diptych painted by Dave Boyle and turns it on its head, continuing Nakamura’s story while also making it something entirely her own. As the final chapter of the Surrogate Valentine saga, I Will Make You Mine acts as a bittersweet treatise on longing, closure, and roads not taken.
“As the final chapter of the Surrogate Valentine saga, [I Will Make You Mine] acts as a bittersweet treatise on longing, closure, and roads not taken.”
While keeping the lush black and white aesthetic of Surrogate Valentine and Daylight Savings, I Will Make You Mine refreshingly flips the script of its predecessors. Where Boyle’s films closely follow Goh Nakamura as he navigates friendships and relationships, Chen turns the character into more of a throughline for her own protagonists: the women in Nakamura’s life. Right off the bat, we learn that the wayward minstrel has hung up his guitar in favor of a steady nine-to-five, and while he’s still not together with his ex-girlfriend Erika (Ayako Fujitani), they now have a six year-old daughter. Elsewhere, Goh’s longtime friend Rachel (Chen) - and once upon a time his unrequited love - is traversing the troubled waters of her marriage with a cheating husband (Mike Faiola). And rounding out Chen’s trio is Yea-Ming Chen, a fictionalized version of the real-life musician and Dreamdate member, who spent much of Daylight Savings as Goh’s romantic reflection.
The lives of these four intersect once again in Los Angeles when Erika’s father dies, setting the stage for Goh to follow his ex and help watch their daughter. With their complicated romantic histories, cheating spouses, and remorseful angst, there’s great opportunity for treacly melodrama, but Chen instead keeps things fleet and light, much to the film’s benefit: Rather than mining situations to blow up her characters’ lives, I Will Make You Mine instead works deftly as a tender exploration of regret and “what ifs.” For Goh, being back in L.A. reminds him of the true love he set aside - music - as he reconnects with Yea-Ming to help her write a new song; Rachel, in her collapsing marriage, daydreams of un-tread paths and of perhaps finally returning Goh’s affections; and Erika, as a newly single mom, wears her frustrations on her sleeve as she ruminates on her split from the father of her child.
I Will Make You Mine may be the third film of a long-dormant trilogy, but Chen makes its narrative easily accessible for newcomers by telling a self-contained story. It also helps that the chemistry among all these characters is so electric - dynamics that easily could have settled for clichéd and tangled webs of romance give way to palpably realistic relationships and refreshingly engaging character studies. And the most charming aspect of the film? Its hummingly pleasant soundtrack that heavily features Nakamura’s dulcet tones, sprinkled throughout the film’s bite-sized runtime. All within 75 minutes, Lynn Chen’s directorial debut is a winsome crossroads of life and music: an easy watch that is as poignant as it is endearing. I Will Make You Mine will be available on VOD on May 26th.
