少年的你

Every June, almost 10 million Chinese students sit for the National College Entrance Examination, or the "Gaokao". For many, this nine-hour exam is considered the most important deciding factor in a student's future: Success on the Gaokao is what determines acceptance to China's universities, which in turn determines one's future career.

Although Better Days was initially censored by the Chinese government, the decision was later changed and the movie began showing in theaters. It's not hard to see why it enticed controversy in the first place as it portrays the Gaokao as a high pressure environment that fosters bullying, mental illness, and suicide. It opens a window to a world where students study endless hours in cram schools for their chance at a good future. Accountability in bullying cases is a recurring theme that underlies the movie.

But don't get this wrong, this isn't a story about the Gaokao. This is a story about heartbreak. Heartbreak for students who are bullied by their peers. Heartbreak for single parents who put their hopes and dreams on their children. Heartbreak for those who love unconditionally and are willing to sacrifice everything. Dongyu Zhou (Soul Mate, Under the Hawthorn Tree) and Jackson Yee (TFboys) are deft as two halves of a love story while Director Derek Tsang masterfully captures the sheer range of both leads. The cinematography doesn't go unnoticed either as every shot has tremendous depth for those paying close attention.

Of the many lines that stand out in this movie, one that resonates particularly is "If you weren't the bully, then you were being bullied." To me, this is what makes the film so powerful: its ability to pull at your heart over and over again. Go out and see this film. When you leave the theater, reflect on what you saw. Wonder how despite how far we have come, we still have so much left to go.

Nominated for best foreign language movie , I was curious to watch as the synopsis sounded interesting.

The story is set in the class sitting their final exam of a college in order to move to university.

Bullying takes a terrible toll and one girl who comes from humble roots is caught up in a series of threats from the bullies Her path crosses a hardened criminal and an unlikely alliance is formed.

A wonderfully written script and direction that give scenes with little dialogue deep resonance and emotion.

Very moving movie which highlights the subject of bullying and those that carry it out and those that observe but do nothing.

Highly recommended.

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.

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.

Derek Tsang's Oscar Nominated (Best International Film) is an impassioned look at school bullying. The movie can be unsparing in depiction of the maltreatment, and, at times it seems like life for our teenage heroine Chen Nian (Dongyu Zhou) is nothing but abuse, whether it be physical or psychological. Still, Tsang brings to it a style and a sweep that is emotionally satisfying all the while.

Chen is a smart high school student on the verge of taking the national college entrance boards - think SAT but done on a Super Bowl level*. The pressures are enormous enough without having a nasty gang of Heathers using all kinds of tactics to make her life miserable. Chen strikes up an unlikely relationship with a street hustler named Xiao Bei (Jackson Yee) and he agrees to be her personal bodyguard of sorts.

The scenes with Chen and Xiao give Tsang an opportunity to really show off his visual skills, even if some of it seems cribbed from Wong Kar-Wai (he is hardly the first, of course, look no further than Sofia Coppola). Varqa Beuher's electronic score adds to the propulsive mix. Tsang also employs time jumps and a lot of cross-cutting - not always to the movie's advantage. A third act twist somewhat derails the story into legal thriller territory. Still, there is no denying Tsang's prowess even at its most overwrought. Zhou is in her late 20s, but, her waif-like appearance easily convinces that she is 17, and her performance is extremely affecting. HK teen idol Yee has a good screen presence to add to their screen chemistry.

BETTER DAYS tells a universal story about bullying, but, it has a vision of its own. Tough subject matter, but, a very rewarding one.

* There has been some internet controversy about Jiu Yuexi's source novel that the movie is based on being unduly influenced by a similar Japanese book by author Higashino Keigo. Of course, in Japan, the national exams are perhaps the most famously hellish in the world.