Better Days

In Derek Kwok Cheung Tsang’s gripping, superbly performed melodrama — a deeply moving if occasionally overwrought exposé of bullying in the acutely competitive academic pressure cooker of a Chinese high school — it’s hard to imagine she can be nostalgic for her own school days.

Three years ago Tsang made “Soul Mate,” an enchanting tale about female friendship that offered an engrossing look at modern, urban China. Yet, that film isn’t quite adequate preparation for the emotional wallop of Better Days. Don’t think, just close your eyes, and jump in.

Moreover, dark as Better Days gets – and it is often an uneasy watch because of its delicately-handled themes – there's still a hopeful story about how honesty and courage and fix even the most broken systems.

Better Days may slide into somewhat hollow artfulness, but it’s hard not to be moved by its genuine concerns.

Though not very subtle in presenting its thesis, the story is generally suspenseful and well-told by young HK actor and director Tsang (Soul Mate).

''Is it my fault they bullied me? ''I'm sorry you went through all that, but if you had trusted the adults, we could have helped you'' ''Who could have helped? The ones who recorded me? The ones who witnessed it all? Or the ones who blame me for being a victim?'' ''So, you did justice by your own hand? You confronted your abuser and took revenge.'' ''Revenge may seem normal to most people. But those of us who have suffered. Are we the ones who are wrong? This dialogue from the final act of this movie was perhaps the one that got me thinking a lot. Bullying is a recurring theme in film, but the approaches rarely show the complete fracture of the person who is being abused. A mental and social fracture that ends up turning them into perpetual victims by committing a crime when they finally explode. And many times we say: Why was nothing done to stop this situation? Why didn't they help them? And sadly, by the time the "grown-up" people want to help, it's already too late. A vicious cycle that repeats itself constantly. Better Days is not a subtle movie on the subject, but sometimes it's necessary to hit the audience in a certain way so that they somehow decide to tackle the issue themselves. This is a tough, sad and uncomfortable movie, but up to a point it's hopeful. And considering its theme and how events unfold, I could never argue that it offers a happy ending, but somehow the ending offers a look that allows you to believe that there will be a change, and someone will get the help the main character just didn't get from the people who were supposed to protect her. This scene takes place in the middle of the credits, so if you end up watching this movie, watch them. I loved when a movie leaves me with things to think about after watching them, and Better Days did that extensively. Highly recommended.

As a treatise on the damage and indignities caused by bullying (both physically and in cyberspace), the message here couldn't be any louder or clearer. But, as a cinematic work, director Kwok Cheung Tsang's latest offering could use some tidying up, especially in terms of length. Based on author Jiuyue Xi's young adult novel "In His Youth, In Her Beauty," this somewhat overlong story of a Chinese schoolgirl beset by relentless (and graphically depicted) bullying as she prepares for her college entrance exams takes its time telling its tale. However, the picture grows decidedly stronger as it progresses, delivering a number of intriguing twists and turns as the protagonist and her punkish but chivalrous protector become embroiled in a gruesome murder mystery. In the end, the picture is a telling indictment of a system that claims to care about the well-being of its school age youth but that ultimately fails to provide the proper protection when needed -- that is, until enough attention is focused on the issue that it can't help but spark much-needed reforms, a potent cautionary tale for us all.

'Better Days' has many problems. First, it's hard not to see this film as propaganda: "Look, bullying existed in our schools, but we eradicated it from the county with the help of our good cops." Second, the romantic story is just insufferable. The relationship between the main characters is just a way to attract a larger audience. Their amorous conflict never connects effectively with the bullying storyline, which kind of gets overshadowed by a ridiculous crime subplot. Finally, director Derek Tsang and his screenwriters conceived this as a tearjerker. Every scene is designed as a feelings crusher; in almost every shot, we see the girl —convincingly played by a nearly thirty-year-old woman— crying or being humiliated by their schoolmates. The good thing is that 'Better Days' has no chance of winning Best International Film at the Oscars. 'Another Round' will easily take the prize.