A FRIENDSHIP BORN FROM TRAUMA
Bullying, teen romance and an entrance exam set the scenes for the coming-of-age drama Better Days.
The film opens with a cautionary message about the prevalence of bullying before cutting to Chen Nian (Zhou Dongyu), an English teacher, explaining to her class the difference between “was” and “used to be”, saying that the latter carries a sense of loss.
From this brief introduction, we are transported to the past, to the days when Chen Nian was finishing high school. Cramming sessions are intense as millions of students find themselves amid piles of textbooks in preparation for “Gaokao”, or the annual entrance exam. A bullied classmate commits suicide by jumping off the school’s building. Chen Nian, showing an act of kindness for the dead girl, becomes the bully’s next target — the receiving end of in-class embarrassment and even after-school assaults by the mean girls’ clique.
Living alone as her mother makes a living selling contraband goods elsewhere, Chen Nian soon finds solace and an unlikely protector in Xiao Bei (Jackson Yee), a street thug she meets during a night-time encounter. He trails Chen Nian like a shadow and helps ward off the bullies when the system she counts on can’t seem to protect her from harm.
Better Days dances the line between brutal realism of the bullying epidemic and tender romance of the young, unlikely couple. Helmed by Derek Tsang of Soul Mate, the film gives a critical reflection of a dysfunctional society, as well as the ominous pressure that befalls adolescents. Some bullying sequences, together with the enigmatic performance by Zhou, were especially hard to watch as we’re reminded that countless teenagers around the world are facing similar violence on a regular basis.
Are we the bully, the bullied, or the onlookers who fail to step in? Director Tsang certainly didn’t shy away from the cruelty teens can and would do to one another while getting audiences to question their roles in it. If anything, he makes sure to put the issue under spotlight in hopes of raising awareness on this atrocity, which is apparent from the moment the film opens to its conclusion. Despite its cultural background, this subject is universal, and should hit home with audiences everywhere.
The romantic aspect of the film is surprisingly tender. In a time where teen romance is both explored and exploited on-screen, Better Days delves into the emotional bond forged upon trauma between the two characters. It was subtle and suggestive, yet enough to be impactful.
Nothing too sappy, either. The studious and timid girl and the brooding bad boy seem the classic set-up of any mismatched star-crossed love story. There are times when it feels like the film could be stepping into the romance’s territory fully. Still, it pulls itself back and keeps the focus on the issue at hand.
Its leading lady, Zhou Dongyu, brought melancholic vulnerability and also strength to her role. She gave a solid performance as the troubled Chen Nian. From Zhang Yimou’s
Under The Hawthorn Tree to director Tsang’s Soul Mate, and now to Better
Days, Zhou has proven herself time and time again a Chinese actress to watch of the decade. Starring opposite her is the singer-turned-actor Jackson Yee who was decent in the classic portrayal of a kind-hearted boy on the wrong side of the track. He is likeable and charming as Xiao Bei.
When Better Days was pulled from the Berlin Film Festival in early 2019 by Chinese authorities, some thought it would never see the light of day over censorship concerns. After being postponed, its eventual release was welcomed with open arms by both audiences and critics alike, and it isn’t hard to see why. This is a must-watch gem, with enough flair to entertain, problems to contemplate, and love to make the heart flutter.