Film Review: You're The Apple Of My Eye / In Those Bygone Years, The Girl We All Went After

Based on the semi-autobiographical novel written by Giddens Ko
Starring actors Ko Chen Tung & Michelle Chen.
Directed by Giddens Ko

Shen Chia-yi is everyone's ideal girl. She is adored by all the boys except Ko Ching-teng. Although the two have been in the same class for three years, they never became friends. One day, Ko-teng was transferred in front of the seat of Chia-yi.

"...girls are always more mature than guys of the same age." 

I've heard of this film long ago, but I didn't watch it because mainly, the title is so cheesy, it makes me cringe. But hey, it turned out to be one of the most heartbreaking Asian films I've ever seen. It had me laughing throughout the movie then left me bawling in the end.

Watching the movie was like a trip back to my high school years and to the unforgotten first love. It is a story of how two individuals learned to mature from experiencing young love. It's a very fun film with lots of quirky moments but at the same time, very nostalgic. I can't believe I had myself so attached with the characters. I find them very realistic and not cheesy at all, despite the 'high school' setting (yes, I somehow developed an allergy to school dramas/films, blame it to the recent one I watched that has nothing but pretty cast. It's so awkward and ugh, don't get me started on how disappointing it is) Maybe it's also because the film is based on real-life story of the director himself.

Story is really just very simple, but that’s what makes it good actually. It happens in reality and everyone can experience it. Love doesn’t guarantee no fights, no disagreements, no feelings of tiredness, even if the feelings are mutual. People drift apart from each other sometimes. It doesn’t necessarily mean you stop loving each other but maybe, it’s better to let fate have its own way.

I am no expert but I can say, the cinematography is very pretty. The casts are all good especially Ko Chen-tung, who debuted on the big screen through this film. He even won the best new actor award for his role. I actually didn't find him appealing in the first few minutes but he has his own charm that made me fall for him each time he appears on screen. Currently, I am in love with him. He's now one of the Asian actors I am looking forward to and not to mention, he's still so young, he's a 90'er. I swear he'll do much better in the coming years.

The chemistry between the leads is very evident also, I am surprised they didn't date for real. I mean, they look comfortable with each other and their interactions are so not forced. Just look at them together...

So yeah, I searched them up and seems like they have their own respective partners irl. What a waste.

I also love the soundtrack of the movie so much! I even downloaded the whole soundtrack. My favorite one is 'One in a Million' by Li Chun Yeng. I cried the moment the song started playing in the movie and I don't even understand the lyrics, ha.

Regarding the ending, some might not have liked it.. but not me. I liked it, though it made me cry like crazy, it was still very satisfying. Very proper to end a story like theirs.

Take note, the film has malicious content that isn't suitable to, uhh, VERY young people. In my opinion, those scenes aren't useless at all, but rather, they are unnecessary. They could just edit those out and the story would still be the same. But nevertheless, those scenes add up to the humor.

So here is a photo of our two leads with the director in some awards show. Truly wtf. Just being scandalous like their movie.

Overall, the movie is really great. Everyone can relate to it.