Big Brother is a 2018 action drama film about a war veteran turned teacher who hopes to help the “bad students” to go back on the right path of life.
Big Brother (Chinese: Taai si hing) is an unexpected title in Donnie Yen’s filmography, however, it’s also one that he has been wanting to do for some time. It’s about school and delivering a positive message about following dreams, even for those left behind and ignored by the very competitive Hong Kong education system. It takes an honest and passionate educator to go beyond their duties to make sure their students stay on the right path, and Yen, playing Mr. Chen, marries the sparse but exciting action scenes that we have come to expect in his films with a much more profound dramatic experience focussing specifically on five students considered losers in the “bad” class. Yen’s heartfelt performance has a dash of comedy, especially in his unorthodox way of teaching, yet it all fits incredibly well with his out-of-the-box character.
While there are some cameo and supporting roles from more seasoned actors, especially the Taiwanese actress Joe Chen as one of the teachers, and Fung Woo as the ex-principal (in an inspiring performance), the five young actors as students are all making their debut. This decision is a smart one, helping to keep their stories feel genuine. While some of it might feel a little dramatized, the reality is that in Hong Kong society, this is all too common: alcoholic dads, Hong Kong-born Pakistani origins, daughters feeling less important than sons, and the high risk of the Triad preying on high school students to get them to do their dirty work. For this young cast, they do a terrific job sharing their own dreams and hoping to break barriers about our own expectations.
Kudos goes to director Ka-Wai Kam as he steps behind the camera a fourth time, and while it’s obvious he is comfortable in his style, he continues to find ways to seamlessly add in action while not forgetting the dramatic point, this time reflecting on how a flawed education system breeds a number of social issues. He lets these characters breath, never once making them feel disposable. You feel very connected to this people.
World premiering at Fantasia Festival a whole two and a half weeks before its release in Hong Kong, Big Brother is both heartwarming and heartbreaking, telling a very real and human experience in the everyday lives of being a student in Hong Kong. It strongly criticized the teachers and then society beyond that. A solid companion film to a number of movies in the genre, such as Hilary Swank‘s Freedom Writers, Big Brother might have some social and cultural barriers for audiences in understanding some of the finer details but there’s no getting around its and pressing urgency to bring to light some very important issues. Sometimes, it takes one person willing to go above and beyond to make a difference. That suits Donnie Yen perfectly.