Bad Genius: when talent turns into a way out
The original title of Bad Genius is closer to “gifted student,” a phrase that does not get used much in mainland Chinese. There, people are more likely to say something like a model student. Still, translating it as Bad Genius works well enough. It matches the film’s central idea and makes the premise instantly clear.
At its core, the story is about a girl who excels academically. She is brilliant, disciplined, and unmistakably a top student, but her family does not have much money. Once she realizes that cheating for others can be turned into income, what begins as an opportunity gradually grows into something much bigger. The deeper she goes, the harder it is to stop. She wants to use that money to change her fate, but the path she chooses keeps pulling her further in.
What the film leaves behind is not just a suspenseful plot, but a bleak feeling about the relationship between the individual and the system. When one small person tries to fight an entire social environment head-on, the result is rarely good. A person with little power usually has no choice but to adapt first, strengthen themselves, and keep climbing toward the top of the pyramid. Only after becoming one of the people with real influence can they hope to change even a tiny part of that environment.
Love After Love: a young woman’s slide into ruin
Love After Love is adapted from a novel by Eileen Chang. I have not read the book, so speaking only about the film, it can basically be summed up as the story of a young woman’s decline.
The heroine falls for a playboy almost for no clear reason. She knows he does not love her, knows he offers no promise, and yet throws herself into the relationship anyway. Then, almost in front of her eyes, he turns his attention to someone new. In response, she becomes attached to another, older man in order to get money, hoping that money might somehow help her hold on to the love she wants.
The film feels loose and scattered. There are many characters, but the central line of the story never becomes especially clear. The most vivid figure is the aunt. She is the one who feels fully formed and layered. By comparison, the heroine seems foolish to the point of absurdity. Her love arrives suddenly and without much emotional groundwork, so her choices do not feel convincing. She abandons dignity and even her body for love, and the result is difficult to admire. History has told this kind of story many times already: women who cannot protect themselves and cannot stand independently seldom meet a good end.