CJ7

China, 2008, 86 minutes, Colour.
Stephen Jiao Xu.
Directed by Stephen Jiao Xu.

An entertaining comedy with touches of fantasy, especially for young boys and their parents.

To look at Stephen Chow as he plays the father in CJ7, you would never pick as having such a sense of humour. He plays a widowed building site labourer who is extremely poor, lives with his little son, Dicky, in what is little better than a hovel but loves his son, is proud of him, tries to instil principles of honesty and integrity and sends him to a private school so that he will have opportunities that he never had. It is quite a serious role and performed with quite some dignity.

But this is the Stephen Chow who wrote and directed the action comedies Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle, both very popular at home in China and abroad. This time he is much more gentle and was very clearly influenced by ET.

Dicky is a very engaging little boy who tries to live up to his father’s ideals (but not always succeeding). He is picked on by a clique of bullies led by a super-arrogant little rich boy. He is attacked by the largest boy in the school who can fling him into trees. The fastidious teacher who won’t go near him because he loathes dirt (though he has a breathtaking nose-picking sequence) always picks on Dicky while the Phys. Ed teacher sidelines him because his sneakers are old and sewn together. (Also sidelined is the biggest girl in the school who takes a shine to Dicky!).

And the title? The rich boy has a high technology toy dog, called CJ1. Dicky would love to have one and puts on a tantrum in a shop. His father, scouring a garbage dump (and not noticing the space ship parked there which takes off) finds a rubbery ball which he brings home as a gift for Dicky. This ball is from outer space and transforms itself into a very, very cute creature, small, rubbery but with a pooch’s face which can (and does) express all kinds of moods. Dicky calls him, in a moment of superiority, CJ7. He also helps Dicky to conquer his enemies and pass exams but, as they say,… ‘in your dreams’.

Of course, this is a pleasant fable about parental love and children’s responses as well as proper pride in oneself no matter how poor one is. And it is pleasant to watch a delightful variation on ET.

(Confession time: though watching films for so long and so attentive to performances, it was only when I read it in the production notes afterwards that I discovered that Dicky was actually played by a little girl!)

1.The popularity of Stephen Jiao’s comedies? Knockabout? Martial arts? Chinese settings? The difference with this film? For children and parents? Teachers?

2.The city setting, the affluent school and its grounds? Ovals, gymnasium? The contrast with the building sites? The panoramas of the city? The poor homes, the interior of Dickie’s home? The musical score?

3.The title, the focus on CJ1 and the rich boys with their toy? The ET character and Dickie calling him CJ7?

4.The focus on Dickie? His age, personality? (The fact that he was played by a little girl?) The introduction, going to school, his dirty face, the taunts of the children, especially John and his gang, the little girl who liked him? The cranky teacher and his complaints? Not wanting to go near his dirt? Miss Yuen and her kindness? Enquiries about his family? The dead mother, his father poor and working in the building site? In class? In sport, his sneakers and their being sewn together, being put on the sideline? With the large girl? Attracted to him, his noisy gulping? The CJ1 and the taunts of the boys? The big bully and his tossing Dickie into the tree? In class, Mr Kao and his criticisms? The tests? Dickie at home, the bonding with his father? Their going shopping, his wanting the toy, his tantrum? His father going to the dump, bringing home the gift, the ball? The ball and its changing shapes? His anger with his father, his father putting him in the cupboard? The ball transforming into the toy? Dickie calling him CJ7? The dream, Dickie going to school, vanquishing the fat boy, vanquishing the gang, getting the glasses to help him with the test, getting 100%? His waking up? The reality of the test, his not getting any marks, his changing the mark to 100%? His father’s disappointment in him? The reality of going to school, CJ7 not doing any of his tricks? His being glum? His bringing the toy to school, the interest of the other children? Their changing? His father’s accident, going to the hospital, his grief? His father’s recovery? His reconciliation with his father, Miss Yuen and her help? Dickie’s future?

5.The father, poor, his dead wife? The hovel in which they lived, making do, the rotten apples, the noodles and the fish? The bunk? The heat and the need for a fan? His working on the building site, the wheelbarrow too heavy for him, his getting the sack, coming back, his pounding the foundations? Going to the school, meeting Miss Yuen? His love for Dickie, his principles and telling him to be honest, integrity rather than wealth? His shopping, not buying the toy, hitting Dickie? The going to the dump, getting the present? His buying the fan and its not working? His work, his accident, his fall, the attempts to rescue him? His seeming to die? Hospital? CJ7 and the transformation? His meeting Miss Yuen – and the final joke about his being handsome?

6.The teachers: Mr Kao, his fastidiousness, picking on Dickie, picking his nose? Miss Yuen and her kindness, the outing? The phys ed teacher and his being harsh on Dickie? On the big girl?

7.The children, their ambitions to be celebrities, entrepreneurs? Wealthy families? John and his followers, bullying? The big boy and his bullying Dickie? The big girl and her being nice? CJ7 and his transforming everyone? The big boy and girl and their being together, the judo team?

8.CJ7, the spaceship, the dump, his coming alive? Fantasy, an ET character with the little puppy dog attitudes? His helping Dickie, his facial expressions, the cuteness? The transformation, his dying, all his efforts for Dickie? His being a simple toy? The transformation of Dickie’s father?

9.A Chinese variation on ET – the audience intended, young children, parents?