Have a Nice Day

It might well be the soundtrack from the Shanghai Restoration Project that is most notable about this gangster feature. Otherwise, it's all a rather poorly put together animation that follows the story of a suitcase with ¥1 million in it that's been pinched from a boss who is maybe just a bit past his sell buy date. Just to reiterate that point, he puts it's retrieval into the hands of an hit man who has gone a bit from ninja to nanny as he tries to track down the bloke whom we know, pretty much all along, has the cash and hopes to make to to his struggling girlfriend. What are the chances of him getting out alive? Well actually that's not really much of a question - the whole drama sort of meanders along with a degree of inevitability to it that rather draws (unwelcome) attention to the very linear style of the animation. Many of the characters remind me of those rub-on transfers I used to get as a kid. Very two dimensional and rarely in proportion to their contemporaries or their surroundings - especially if there's movement or changes in pace, light/shade going on. It relies on the dismal surroundings of their dilapidated environment and the weather to create much of it's sense of menace and the dialogue does little to put any meat on the bones of their characterisations. Perhaps it's meant to be an allegorical indictment of communist China - a cityscape that, like everything else here, has seen better days? Possibly, but as a crime thriller it's quite literally as flat as a pancake.

A very strange animated movie ... one that you may think you might have seen as an live action movie. But this thriller about greed (for money as you can guess or just the will to survive, as some may call it), is really well made. While it may take a second (or two) to get yourself into the mood of this movie and its many characters and figure out who is who and what their ultimate goal is (although very similar if boiled down), you will be more than entertained with this, no matter if you watch it alone or with a crowd.

I watched it at a film festival, but since it was the midnight screening there weren't that many people. And it doesn't really contain that many "omg" moments, although it does have quite a few outrageous things in it. So be prepared for this, because this was not made for kids (I do hope you don't show it to little children before you check the rating or the reviews) ...

Xiao Zhang is a good kid, but his girlfriend had botched plastic surgery and he needs money to get her another operation, so he robs Uncle Liu, a shady crime boss, of a million yuan. Uncle Liu, unsurprisingly, wants it back, so he sends enforcer/hit-man Skinny on Xiao Zhang's trail, but already things are complicated because other people have stumbled across the young man and know what's in his bag…. This is kind of a modern Chinese animated take on "Pulp Fiction," only told in a brisk 77 minutes, including a hallucinatory scene in which one of the couples after the money sing about moving to "Shangri- La." It's extremely recent, as it includes Trump's first press conference after his election win and references to Brexit, but the sort of gritty, down-on-its-luck industrial town in which the events of this single day take place is quite timeless, and the down-on-their-luck characters respond to "free money" in the way humans have since it was invented. Quirky, odd and inventive; if you get the chance, by all means see it!

A cute little cartoon that is full of Chinese flavors and memories from the 90s. It is refreshing to see a cartoon that basically has no Japanese or American flavors, for just this the creators should be applauded for. The story is interesting too, and somewhat befitting of the structure, as it is simple, direct and ridiculous. The ironic humor of the film flows propels then story forward and pokes fun at so many aspects of society, but it can only carry it to a certain extent. The film lacks depth to be truly impactful even though it is full of heart.

28th STOCKHOLM INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL. DAY 4, NOV 11th 2017. Swedish premiere.

With impressive and stylish animations and a nice humouristic touch, the film offers a satirical criticism on the problems of modern China.

The second feature film from writer-director Liu Jian, after his animated debut "Piercing I" in 2010, "Have a Nice Day" (2017) is a proof of talent and aesthetic vision, promising, with the right financial support for Liu Jian, a filmmaker with clear potential.