A Sun - Nice Day
Thoughts On: A Sun (陽光普照, 2019)
Hardship continually batters a small family.
Powerfully understated, A Sun is a tremendous piece of work that unfolds like a magic trick. Its subtext is built upon a subtle fallacy; that the sun beats down equally upon all, each place in the world receiving their fair share of heat and day in turn. The world of A Sun is miserable and unjust without reason or warning; its intensity burning erratically, its darkness and gloom falling without balance, unforgiving and always unpredictable. Such is life for many; we do not all share the sun equally - some spend months without seeing it at all, others suffer below it for a lifetime. Nonetheless, we all seek shelter and shade. That is what equalises us. Yet not all of us find it. And such is the conundrum of A Sun. How does one walk their path when there may be no chance of shelter to keep us from the dark, no chance of shade to save us from the overwhelming light? Without pretence, we are shown that one walks as they must and as they can; their primary tool against the elements their perspective itself; can they strive to see shelter or shade; can they look up and say, it's a nice day?
