Old but gold: Taiwanese movie teaches important lesson about high school love

During the Chinese New Year activity in my Chinese 2 class, we watched a Taiwanese romance movie called “Our Times.” The film had a lasting impression on me, piquing my interest in the Taiwanese teenage life it depicted. Afterwards, I set out on the hunt for another good Taiwanese romance movie and found “You Are the Apple of My Eye,” which ended up immensely changing my perception of love.

“You Are the Apple of My Eye” is a 2011 Taiwanese romance film based on director Giddens Ko's autobiographical novel of the same name. The film, based on characters and events from Ko’s real experiences, follows a group of high school classmates growing up together and learning lessons in life.

The movie has a simple but profoundly compelling story, and the setting and characters are very ordinary, thereby allowing most viewers to closely relate and empathize with the characters’ emotions and experiences.

A good balance of humor also makes it an enjoyable watch. Language plays a key role in the Taiwanese film,  especially when Hokkien, a language spoken in Southern Min Chinese dialect group, is integrated into the movie; the characters speak with sarcastic but funny swear words that will undoubtedly provide a kick to certain audiences who understand the language.

The film starts with Ko Ching-Teng, the main character, reminiscing about the old days in 1994 when he and all his friends had a crush on Shen Chia-Yi, an outstanding student from their class whom the group of friends chased after for years. Shen Chia-Yi gradually develops a deep friendship with Ko-Teng as she helps him study through his final year in high school. Later, Shen asks Ko-Teng if he would like her to answer to his confession, but Ko-Teng is scared to hear the answer, so he tells her that he will hear it the next time they meet.

Unfortunately, at the end of the year, they all have to go their separate ways for college. The story follows Ko-Teng as he continues to try to win over Shen, but she ends up marrying someone else.

Personally, I enjoyed the ending of this movie, even though it wasn’t a happy ending. I really liked the closing shot of Ko-Teng’s old uniform with all the pen marks Shen made on it — a lot of the memories they had were imprinted on that shirt. Although he didn't end up with her, she will always be an important person in his life. 

Ko-Teng’s response to Shen finding the right person for her even though it wasn’t him shocked me. It changed my perception of love: If I really like a girl, I imagined it would be impossible to see her dating another person or not liking me back because I’m not enough for her. But I realized that I was wrong. If I truly like a girl, I should be happy for her when she finds love, and I should be supportive of whatever makes her happy.

Because the movie doesn’t end in an ideal way, it portrays a more realistic representation of relationships. Furthermore, the movie’s ending emphasizes that not everything will always work out in a way you want it to, but it’s always better to learn from the experience and move on. Because of Ko-Teng’s decision to let Shen go, the movie also illustrates that sometimes, a single action can change a person’s life forever.

The story comes from a sincere heart, recounting the director’s own experience with a universal theme. I believe everyone's first love story is something worth recounting, given the bittersweet moments and the lessons that can be learned from it.

“You Are the Apple of My Eye” will warm your heart, but at the same time, it will induce nostalgia. The movie’s wistful tone encaptures how people change and how memories can morph as people grow.