Better Days
你保护世界，我保护你。you protect the world, i’ll protect you.
i would be lying if i said that i didn’t think this was a stereotypical film where the good girl falls for the bad boy at first. fortunately, i was mistaken. this film is far from that—far from any type of cliché.
better days is a film where it first shatters your heart into an amalgamation of multiple shards, with each one being tied to a certain feeling, before it pieces it back together again. i went into this film blind, and i was unaware of how much pain one film can inflict upon a person, and that made me wonder just how much one human can take. there will always be something to be said about the adults around us; for example, do they really care as much as they claim they do? can they even help? do they even understand? the main reason as to why chen nian was so hesitant to approach the adults around her was because she was afraid. she didn’t trust any of them, and she never had any reason to. they always said things, but they never made her feel like she was safe.
when the youth try to stand up for themselves on their own two feet, they end up being misunderstood further, leading them to become more closed off. redemption is nothing short of a fallacy, and you have to do whatever it takes to survive. you have to do what you have to do, but what if cruelty is all we’ve ever known? violence is something that is either taught or inborn; again, is it in our nature, or is it something that we have nurtured? it comes instinctively, after all, and even altruism can act as a double-edged sword that cuts deep.
so imagine how she felt when she met someone who was more than willing to do anything for her—someone who did more for her than any adult in her life. xiao bei never made her feel alone, never made her feel helpless, and he was the sole reason as to why she kept going. he shone a light on her, as did she. she was the first person who asked him if it hurt. he made her feel protected. she made him feel human. in a world full of harsh uncertainties, growing pains, tragedy, systemic pressure, apathy, and blind anger, they had each other. that was enough.
this film doesn’t promise healing but rather aids in acknowledging the fact that it takes too long and it can be difficult to find, but all will pass, too.