I don't have much knowledge about film culture and deep perception of literary background, so the feeling of just watching Fireworks in the Day is a bit dull and depressing. A typical feature film, the story is laid out I think it is a typical Chinese-style storytelling method. There is no passion, and no suspense. However, neither the policeman played by Liao Fan nor the laundryman played by Gui Lunmei said anything surprising. Violence and erotic footage are discreet. However, under the seemingly loose narrative structure, the typically suppressed emotions of the Chinese can be seen everywhere. The laundromat owner, the nightclub owner, the man who would sacrifice everything for love, and so on. For foreign filmmakers, isn't it fresh and full of new ideas? In this northeastern city, which is covered with snow all the year round, everything seems to be so outdated. The real human nature is concealed in the trembling of the cold, in the calmness of skating, in the dance full of contradictions.
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