Director Wen Muye told China.org.cn in an exclusive interview that his second feature film "Nice View" is not about success, but about happiness. 

"The concept of the film is all about happiness. I want people to know that no matter how you can feel happiness by following your own heart, please do," he said. 

Set in Shenzhen in the years following 2012's 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, "Nice View," starring Jackson Yee, Chen Halin, Tian Yu, and Qi Xi, centers around the hard but heartwarming lives of 20-year-old Jing Hao and his younger sister. Facing setbacks while trying to pay for his sister's expensive surgery, Jing manages to start up a business with friends in the city through effort and perseverance, shouldering his responsibilities to give his family a better life.

The film demonstrates how through family and love, miracles can happen to anybody who works hard and never gives up. The film does so by telling a story about ordinary people's inspiring struggles in Shenzhen, China's first Special Economic Zone built in 1980 which has since grown into one of the country's most dynamic, competitive, and innovative cities.

"For me, Shenzhen is a lively city, and one of the fastest-paced cities. Everyone is working hard to pursue happiness. Every ordinary person is creating their own miracles, which will constitute the miracles of this city and also constitute the miracles of China," he said. 

Filming in Shenzhen, Wen, 37, remembered how not everything regarding the project came easily, enduring two resurgences of the COVID-19 and four typhoons. "When we needed to shoot rain scenes, we could not make use of the natural rain; we needed to do it in artificial rain so we can control it according to our requirement and vision."

The director praised the leading actor Yee's professionalism and said the 21-year-old movie star surprised him in every shot. "There were a lot of hardships during filming, especially when we encountered heavy rain and big winds. Yee just went out without wearing any protection to act, while maintaining a great and precise performance," he noted.

Wen was also happy with other cast members and treated them like family. One time, when they shot a scene about the characters moving home with a big truck in the rain, they sang together in the truck's hopper. "This moment left an impression as if we were vagabonds wandering in the city and had finally come to find our home."

The highly anticipated realistic drama, which also goes by the simple Chinese title "Miracle," was produced by veteran filmmaker Ning Hao. The collaboration marked a second working relationship between Ning and Wen, who had previously worked on the critically acclaimed 2018 blockbuster "Dying to Survive," a dark horse of Chinese cinema for its comedic and realistic elements which grossed a staggering 3.1 billion yuan ($490 million). Xu Zheng, veteran actor-and-director and the lead actor in "Dying to Survive," also reunited with Wen in "Nice View," while other veteran actors in the film include Tian Zhuangzhuang, Wang Chuanjun, and Yong Mei. 

Wen said he would continue on his path to making realistic dramas, adding he believed realism could be found in every genre. "I think even a sci-fi film can be realistic too, if you ground it close to people's hearts and lives. I have always believed that, and I will try to make films in more genres in the future."

"Nice View" is slated for national release on Feb. 1, the first day of the Chinese New Year. Now its box office presale of tickets is nearly 30 million yuan, only second to the war epic "The Battle at Lake Changjin II."

"Just like Shenzhen, a 'city of miracles,' through the film 'Nice View' I witnessed the young power brought by the cooperation between Wen and Yee and the way each of the main creators of the production team overcame all difficulties and worked hard together," producer Ning said at a cloud live streaming press event held in Beijing on Jan. 22. "I saw many ordinary people who worked hard for their ideals and happiness, and they are the people who create miracles."

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