Better Days (film)

Movie
German title	Better Days
Original title	Shàonián de nǐ ( 少年的你 )
Country of production	China
original language	Standard Chinese
Publishing year	2019
length	138 minutes
Rod
Director	Derek Tsang
script	Lam Wing Sum, ; Li Yuan, ; Xu Yimeng
production	Jojo Hui (aka Yuet-jan Hui)
music	Varqa Buehrer
camera	Yu Jing pin
cut	Zhang Yibo
occupation
	Zhou Dongyu : Chen Nian; Jackson Yee : Xiao Bei; Yin Fang: Zheng Yi; Huang Jue : Lao Yang; Wu Yue: mother of Chen Nian; Zhou Ye: Wei Lai; Zhang Xinyi: Xu Miao; Liu Ran: Luo Ting; Xie Xintong: Wang Li; Zhang Yao: Li Xiang; Zhang Yifan: Hu Xiaodie; Zhao Runnan: Da Kang; Gao Xuanming: Lai Zi;

Better Days (Original title: Shàonián de Nǐ ) is a Chinese youth film by Derek Tsang from 2019. The main roles are played by Zhou Dongyu and Jackson Yee . It is a film adaptation of the novel Shǎo nián dí nǐ, rú cǐ měi lì by Jiu Yuexi. The film is about a girl who was bullied at school and a young criminal.

action

Chen Nian is preparing for the Gaokao University Entry Exam . She dreams of studying in Beijing and making the world a better place. One day her classmate, Hu Xiaodie, committed suicide at school. Shortly before, she confessed to Chen Nian that she could no longer stand the daily bullying. All the onlookers gather around the corpse and take photos, videos and talk about it in the chat. Chen Nian approaches the body in tears and covers it with her jacket. This leads to her being questioned during the police investigation. She says she put the jacket over her because Xiaodie didn't want her to be seen that way. Otherwise she didn't know anything about them.

When she comes back to the classroom, her chair is covered in red liquid. A flashback shows Chen Nian learning that Xiaodie was bullied using the same method. Unlike Xiaodie, however, Chen Nian does not sit down after the teacher has greeted her. This makes the teacher notice and say students should focus on studying and not bullying. Shortly afterwards, however, Chen Nian is regularly bullied by the student Wei Lai. She wants to know what she told the police and make sure she doesn't say anything about the bullying against Xiaodie.

One evening, Xiaodie sees a boy being beaten up by three others. She then calls the police, but what the thugs noticed and grabbed them. They throw her to the ground and ask why she called the police. They keep stepping on the boy and do so until she kisses him. Which she eventually does. Then he can free himself and drive away the three thugs. He gives her back the money the thugs stole from her and also takes care of the repair of her cell phone.

Chen Nian lives mostly alone. Her mother has loads of debts and is often on the run. At the same time she is a model student and always writes the best grades. Xiao Bei, on the other hand, dropped out of school and sees it as pointless. He offers Chen Nian to protect her, which she initially refuses.

Wei Lai posts a photo of the wanted message for Chen Nian's mother in the class’s messenger chat room, which makes her a mockery. Wei Lai also pushes her down the stairs. Chen Nian can no longer stand the bullying and tells the police everything. The bullying against her and Xiaodie. Wei Lai and her two friends are expelled from school. is then expelled from school. But Wei Lai does not stop and see Chen Nian at home, where she threatens her with a knife. Chen Nian can just about escape. She then accepts Xiao Bei's offer to be protected. However, you cannot pay him. He agrees. In return, he just wants her to owe him time together. But he doesn't say anything more specific. It could be going to the cinema, but maybe something else too ...

A close relationship develops between Bei and Chen Nian. But one evening Bei was playing computer games in an arcade. This is picked up during a police raid. A schoolgirl has reported being raped and the rapist is said to be among them. So all those present are brought to the police station, questioned, and the raped person is brought before them. That same evening, Wei Lai lured Chen Nian into a trap. She is beaten, her hair is cut, and she is stripped and pictures taken.

Bei is angry when he sees Chen Nian at home. He wants revenge, but Chen Nian stops him. But Wei Lai visits her again. She apologizes and asks them not to tell the police. She would do anything. The surveillance cameras recorded everything and residents also saw the incident. Wei Lai is therefore very afraid. But Chen Nian goes on, whereby Wei Lai continues to talk to her and her inhuman thoughts come to light. Chen Nian pushes her away from her, causing her to fall down the stairs and die.

Bei hatches a plan on how to take the blame. He wants Chen Nian to study in Beijing. So only he has to go to prison. Bei buries the body and Chen Nian takes part in the gaokao. But the corpse is pulled up by a strong storm. Chen Nian is immediately the prime suspect. But also at is possible. At makes it look like it's a rape case. However, the evidence points more towards Chen Nian. Commissioner Zheng Yi believes that Chen Nian and Bei know each other. He leads the two of them to each other in the interrogation room, but they deny everything. Bei is sentenced and Chen Nian scores outstanding points in the Gaokao.

The inspector congratulates her and tells her that Bei has been sentenced to death. He lied when he said he was still a minor. This affects Chen Nian deeply and she lets up her anger on the policeman. Finally she tells him everything. She is then sentenced to four years in prison.

At the end of the film you can read that the case attracted a lot of attention and that numerous measures against school bullying were taken.

Production and publication

The shooting took place from July to September 2018. Most of the film was shot in Chongqing . The film was originally supposed to celebrate its world premiere at the Berlinale 2019 . However, the film was withdrawn on the grounds of post-production difficulties . The media reported, however, of censorship on the part of China. The film was due to open in Chinese cinemas in June 2019, but was withdrawn again. In the end, the film was released without any further justification and opened in China on October 25, 2019. The film was very successful and grossed 227 million US dollars worldwide .

reception

Better Days received positive reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes , the film received an aggregate rating of 100% from a total of eleven professional critics. The audience participation is 97%. Edmund Lee gave the film 4.5 stars out of 5 and named it one of the best films of the year. The film had the bad luck that China's censors were particularly careful in the year of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the state and the film was withdrawn from the Berlinale. China also boycotted the Golden Horse Award . So the film couldn't show at the international film festivals it deserved. Nevertheless, the film ultimately turned out to be a great success.