This
is the film China did not want France to see. Ironically, at this year’s
Annency, the world’s most prestigious animation festival, China had been
selected as featured guest country, but the Communist censors sabotaged their
own PR coup by refusing animator Liu Jian the proper permits to screen his
latest feature in competition. Thanks for reminding the world of the grim
realities facing Chinese artists under Xi-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed. There are no
politics per se, but its dog-eat-dog depiction of contemporary China apparently
hit too close to the truth. Hopefully, the Chinese authorities will still allow
French Canadians to see Liu’s Have a Nice
Day
(trailer here),
by not taking any last-minute measures to block its screenings at the 2017 Fantasia International Film Festival.
Ironically,
Mao’s mug has been emblazoned on all denominations of paper renminbi banknotes.
There are a lot of those Mao’s in the satchel low-level flunky Xiao Zhang
steals from his boss. Of course, he is really stealing from the big boss, Uncle
Liu, which is a really bad idea. It is a busy night for Uncle Liu, who is already
beating the stuffing out of a local artist, so he assigns Skinny (a part-time
fixer and full-time butcher) to handle the problem.
Unfortunately,
Xiao Zhang has already been handled by an opportunistic couple with a pair of
X-ray glasses. Soon, various other dodgy parties are also scrambling after the
money, like characters in a seventy-five minute It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad World, but set in provincial China—and with a
lot of bloodshed.
Frankly,
a film like Nice Day is healthy for Chinese
society, because it spurs discussion and analysis regarding the state of
things. One of the most telling aspects of the film is the frequency characters
express a need or desire to leave for another country, often for better
educational opportunities or in the case of Xiao Zhang’s girlfriend, corrective
plastic surgery to fix the botched work she received locally. So much for the “Chinese
Dream.”
Nice Day also happens to
be a jolly good caper film, albeit in a decidedly lean and mean kind of way. Viewers
should not get too attached to any characters, but on the other hand, they
should count any out, no matter how bad their situation looks. This is
definitely a predatory environment. It is Xi’s China, so you’re on your own.
