Film Name: 青少年哪吒 / Rebels of the Neon God
This is not a film driven by dialogue, nor is it primarily plot-driven. Teenage Nezha uses visuals to build an atmosphere, immersing the audience in the restlessness, confusion, and fate of youth. It must be acknowledged that, in a sense, this is a “slow-burn” film. It wasn’t until the latter half that I truly entered the world it constructed—one saturated with the anguish of youth.
It seems youth is destined for confusion and pain. The three main characters, along with Ah Bin, each live a life of fleeting existence. No one’s life brims with hope, nor does anyone pursue so-called hope. The protagonists drift outside societal expectations and rules, yet remain bound by immense bewilderment and loneliness. A-Kang, from a traditional family, is gay (this is conveyed very subtly in the film—it wasn’t until he asked A-Ze if he needed help that I realized his initial focus wasn’t on A-Gui, but on A-Ze). He harbors a desire to escape his current life and his father’s oppression, a desire that transforms into a silent, violent energy, evident in his body language, expressions, and gaze. When his mother declares him the reincarnation of Nezha, the Third Prince, Akang is joyful and exhilarated—the rebellious Nezha was never understood by the world, nor did he seek anyone’s approval. Perhaps in that moment, Akang finally glimpsed a sliver of hope for his own spiritual coherence. Thus, without warning, he convulses as if possessed by Nezha. His mother was terrified. His father shattered the scene with a bowl of rice. Akang gazed deeply at his parents. He was not Nezha’s reincarnation after all, incapable of such heroic feats as shaving his bones to repay his father. He was exiled. Though he returned briefly, he could never be accepted by his father, nor by a patriarchal society. His way of approaching his lover was to violently destroy the lover’s car, then leap joyfully on the hotel bed until his head slammed hard against the ceiling. He lay there clutching his head, crying hoarsely with the last breath in his lungs. The pleasure of revenge and the agony of being able to connect with his lover only through such means weighed heavily on Akang, briefly forcing him back into the world of the sane. In the film’s final scene, Akang visits a telephone dating club. Perhaps he seeks to alleviate his loneliness this way, or perhaps it represents a last attempt to integrate into the so-called normal world. Yet his timidity, his inarticulate nature, and the deep-seated awareness that he could never truly belong within patriarchal structures prevent him from answering any calls. The ringing echoes harshly and lonely throughout the club.
The predicament facing Aze and Agui, however, mirrors the struggles most people face in their twenties: the young man cannot offer the girl any promises about the future. They can share the thrill of alcohol, the intimacy of physical closeness, or the fleeting euphoria of speeding away on a motorcycle—but it all remains confined to the sensory realm. To go deeper, to take one more step, would mean crashing back into reality. And reality is so cruel, young people so powerless. After their tryst, Aze fled in the early morning, leaving A gui to wait for a promise that would never be spoken aloud. Aze’s life lacked the raw violence and emotional release that A kang found in his actions; his anguish stemmed from more complex causes. Though he appeared the more carefree and reckless of the two, he was actually the one closer to reality. Unlike A kang’s inability to fit in, Aze actively avoided everything reality threw at him. He preferred to block the floor drain with a rag, living like a slipper floating in stagnant water. He preferred his home to remain perpetually chaotic, devoid of dry corners or edible food. He curled up in the tiny corner he’d carved out, finding a sliver of safety amid the chaos. Yet this protection and isolation were fragile; the slightest disruption from reality could shatter Aze’s shell, dragging him into the sunlight to bake to death. In the end, Agui embraced him and asked, “Let’s leave this place.” But Aze replied, “Where can we go?” Neon-lit teenagers, like Nezha, are wandering spirits in the adult world—nowhere to hide, nowhere to run. They seep like sewage into the city’s darkest corners, waiting for the blinding sunlight to pronounce their death sentence.
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