Have a Nice Day – Hao jile (2017)

Directed by: Jian Liu | 77 minutes | animation, comedy, thriller | Original voice cast: Changlong Zhu, Kai Cao, Jian Liu, Siming Yang, Haitao Shi, Xiaofeng Ma, Feng Xue, Yi Zheng, Kou Cao, Hong Zhu, Da Wang, Yu Wu, Xingjun Zhao, Hongyu Zeng, Jie Gao, Haochen Li , Pincun Liu, Renwen Zhang

Tarantino meets Hong Kong Mafia in comic form, you think when you think of the first images of ‘Have a Nice Day’. What is the added value of an animated translation of this matter? No, we have to say it differently. This material is ideal for animation. You could even say that Tarantino would never have existed without the comic, but that’s going too far here.

We are talking about a Chinese original, not a copy. The ‘romantic’ Japanese manga is also far away, for those who would think that Chinese animation is looking for inspiration there. ‘Have a Nice Day’ is loud and situational. Characters seem like pieces of furniture in a raging world, playthings of empirical reality. Fascinating and richly executed.

The story revolves around Xiao Zhang, a petty criminal who steals a bag of money from his boss to fund a trip to South Korea for his girlfriend to repair her “failed plastic surgery.” Sounds nice; it should be noted that the film was withdrawn from the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in June 2017 at the producer’s request, because it did not have “proper permission” from the government to be shown internationally (according to Wiki).

We cannot fully assess the motives, but given the quality of Chinese film in general (particularly the productions from Hong Kong) there will be every reason to believe that government-inconvenient practices are being depicted here. We saw, among other things, a Buddha statue with a swastika on the chest and can imagine something from that point of view.

Anyway, we’ve seen ‘Have a Nice Day’, and it’s a bit of a bite. Easy going maybe, but we got an unmistakable Tintin feeling with this animation, and then without the western perspective. The visual humor (fast and situational) is certainly present, but the satirical content (the film is billed as a black comedy) eludes us.

What the film ultimately wins for you is the enjoyable pace and nuanced facial expressions. However, the advice can be given to take a Chinese acquaintance with you to the art cinema, or to listen to a good introduction in this area.