少年的你

I was unable to take my eyes off of the screen for the entire movie. A girl is preparing to take her entrance exams in order to enter Beijing University. The competition is fierce and after the suicide of a fellow student, she is bullied by a few extremely vicious classmates. A street thug crosses paths with her and winds up protecting her from her tormentors. A plot twist involving her foes turns this into a top tier crime drama. The two leads are tremendous and by the end of the film I was emotionally drained. This is an example of what movie is meant to be. It should have won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film.

The story is heartbreaking! Plus the acting of two main characters are extremely amazing! Not to mention Zhou Dongyu, 27-year-old acting as 18-year-old ChenNian, not presented by a big yelling, only by the drops of heartbreaking tears. She is such a talented actress. Her performance evoked everyone's emotions and totally expressed her fear and hatred. Another scene about Xiaobei shaving her head which is so true and touchable!

This movie had me bawling. All the actors nailed their performance especially the two protagonist. They had a beautiful chemistry. Their love was pure and deep. It definitely is one of the best 2019 movie. Our times is my all time favourite asian coming of age movie. And this just became my second favourite.

We often hear about how students in China are among the most hard-working in the world, real go-getters. The underbelly of this is the severe stress under which they operate. Derek Tsang's Academy Award-nominated "Shaonian de ni" ("Better Days" in English). The protagonist is a bullied girl about to take the National College Entrance Exam. She hooks up with a local hoodlum, but surprises remain in store.

The torment from the bullying reflects the pressure from the exam. It's a truly tough world for this girl as various events conspire to close the walls in on her. The complex characters and the general intensity of the plot make this one movie that you have to see. It's the first of Tsang's movies that I've seen, but I certainly hope to see more of them. A real masterpiece.

Tsang is no question a force to be reckoned him. Without him the film is perhaps at best a 5/10, as the script and story is forgettable and predictable. The director is able to instil a sense of modernism and style into the film. Better Days is also helped out by having a strong performance from both of the leads. Regardless, the motif and theme of the movie has to be told one way or another, bullying is perhaps an often forgotten topic in Chinese society, and one that is not always recognized in a country where everything is developing at such a lightning pace. More of these films should and needs to be made, works like this raises awareness but most importantly really looks at the human side & reasoning behind bullying.