Critical Week: Keep looking up

This is the final week in this year's wildly over-extended awards season, with the Academy Awards capping things off on Sunday night in Los Angeles. They're promising a fresh take on the awards show, mixing in-person events with virtual elements, so it will be interesting to see what the show's director Steven Soderbergh and friends come up with. And a relief to finally have this year's marathon behind us. Shadows' annual SWEEPSTAKES has racked up a record number of awards, tallied together to see this year's true winners.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Homeward • Tu Me Manques
Black Bear • Into the Labyrinth
ALL REVIEWS >

It's also been a busy week at the movies for me, with a bunch of smaller films. The Outside Story stars the terrific Brian Tyree Henry (above) as a homebody who gets locked out of his flat and learns some cosy but (ahem!) key life lessons. It's gently engaging, as is Percy vs Goliath, which stars Christopher Walken as a real Canadian farmer who takes on a greedy multinational corporation (is there any other kind?). And then there's the gifted RJ Mitte starring in the conceptual thriller The Oak Room, which spins stories within stories in a way that's likeable and rather chilling.

A bit further afield, the involving Stone Fruit uses nonstop dialog and naturalistic performances to knowingly explore a waning relationship, while Making Sense mixes brainy science with sudsy soap-style plotting for some low-budget fun. There were two lively, colourful docs:  Steelers tells the story of the world's first gay-inclusive rugby team in London, and House of Cardin looks at the fashion designer's work, and a bit of his personal life. The short film collection Upon Her Lips: Pure Feels features five strong clips about female emotionality, while the 15th anniversary director's cut of Another Gay Movie offers a great excuse to revisit this silly and strikingly bold pastiche comedy. And then there's this drama from Hong Kong, the only Oscar-nominated feature I hadn't seen. So now I'm all ready for Sunday night's ceremony...

Better Days

dir Derek Kwok-cheung Tsang
scr Lam Wing Sum, Li Yuan, Xu Yimeng
with Zhou Dongyu, Jackson Yee, Yin Fang, Huang Jue, Wu Yue, Zhou Ye, Zhang Yifan, Ran
release Chn 25.Oct.19, US/UK 8.Nov.19
19/China 2h15 ****

Taking on intense academic pressure as it's multiplied by ruthless bullying, this drama from Hong Kong has a striking visual style that cuts to the core of the issue. Director Derek Kwok-cheung Tsang shoots this with loads of visual style, capturing small details of teen life while depicting the everyday challenges of survival for China's underclass. The knotted plot is overlong, but it's powerful, important and strongly moving. And the two central performances are knock-outs.

The story takes place in 2011 in Anqiao, as Nian (Zhou) is preparing for her university entrance exam. After a friend commits suicide due to bullying, the mean girls ramp up their violent attacks on Nian. Her mother (Wu) is only concerned about grades, so Nian feels she can't talk to her. She's also so conscientious that she can't help but go to the assistance of teen petty criminal Bei (Yee) as he's being brutally beaten by thugs. Afterwards, they develop an unusual friendship, as he becomes her protector.

Students in Nian's class are desperate to get into prestigious universities, and because she's not as pretty as the other girls but gets better marks, they ruthlessly harass her in ways that are genuinely horrific. Young detective Zheng (Fang) is shocked by these cold-hearted girls. And it's painful to see how such vile abuse has left Nian scared and worryied about the mental health of her only remaining school friend. And all of this is beautifully countered by her warmly offbeat connection with Bei.

Nian believes that everything will be fine once she makes it past the exam, but Bei tries to ground her. Their evolving friendship is infused with humour and beautifully played interaction that hints at a possible romance without being seedy about it. The script sometimes gets preachy regarding the topic, but it feels earned. Yes, the violence is difficult to watch at times, while some of the plot's twists are emotionally wrenching, but the tenderness is simply gorgeous.

15 themes, language, violence • 19.Apr.21

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In the next couple of days, I'll catch up with this week's big releases Stowaway, a space-mission drama with Toni Collette, and Mortal Kombat, the videogame-based action battle thriller. There's also Bruce Dern in The Artist's Wife, the 1950s-set Czech drama Charlatan, the Dutch revenge-comedy The Columnist and the care home doc Some Kind of Heaven. I'll also be up all night on Sunday to watch the Oscars live at London time.