You’re the Apple of My Eye

You Are the Apple of My Eye (那些年，我們一起追的女孩, literally “In Those Years, The Girl We All Went After”) is a Taiwanese Romance film in 2011

A story of boy meets girl at high school. They grow up, drift apart and meet again. Such are the elementary and timeless ingredients with which Taiwan novelist-turned-director Giddens Ko (九把刀) whips up the larky retro coming-of-age confection.

The film was based on Giddens’ semi-autobiographical novel, which is already a bestseller among Chinese online readers; its transfer to screen has no trace of literary ponderousness and brims with unpretentious boyish humor. The film’s sparkle lies in the way it conveys the experience of youth and first love with untethered energy and in a wholly personal, idiosyncratic voice.

This film tells from point of view of Giddens’ with four of his closest friends, who strived to win over the heart of classmate Shen Chia Yi (沈佳宜), played by Michelle Chen (陳妍希), who has already successfully imprints her character onto our hearts and that of many Taiwanese teenagers.

The film is split into three parts: high school, university and the aftermath. Each part illustrates a different phase and level of the relationship between Giddens and Shen Chia Yi.

The high school portion of the movie is the longest; it strings our hearts together and spins them right into a memory tunnel with the scarred, drawn and worn out wooden chairs and desks, the girl poking the boy sitting in front with a pen, and the school uniforms.

The university years then show how the pair left their hometown and strived to maintain a long-distance relationship, which received a fine dose of real-life challenges.

The aftermath includes major turning points and decisions. The film develops each and every character thoroughly, as well as gives a tip of the hat to how Giddens’ career began as a writer. A two-part surprise epilogue appears during and after the credits.

Film Romance Development:

This is not a love story between two youngsters who ended together and lived happily ever after. Instead, this is a semi-autobiography of the scriptwriter/director himself who have missed his first love of a crush on a high school classmate who loves him back as well of some misunderstanding and foolish pride, which was what makes the film so nostalgically reminds all of us back in our high school life.

This film was set back in the 1990s, a time before cellphones but after the creation of ear buds, we meet a group of close friends who attend a private school. (Their uniforms have individualized numbers stitched on them. Four friends, Boner, Groin, Tsao, A-ho all have a debilitating crush on the sunny star pupil Shen Chia-yi. The only member of the group who claims not having a crush is the male leading actor; Ko Ching-Teng was forced to move his seat to right in front of Shen Chia-yi that fate brings them together.

1. Text book

So back in Taiwan, the Asian teachers were very strict and one day the “good girl” has forgotten her text book, and this is when the romance between these two “past” lovers starts. Ko Ching-Teng gave her his text book and willing to take the blame on.

(Here you can see Ko Ching-Teng is punished by holding the chair, and Shen Chia-Yi who is sitting behind Ko Ching-Teng is feeling bad for what he has done for her)

Shen Chia-yi of course takes it upon herself to help him with his study habits. What follows is a very chaste, homework-based romance that offers up some confirmations on Asian culture’s stereotypical emphasis on education.

2. Tutor

When Shen Chia-yi decides to start giving practices and offers to do revision with him, Ko Ching-Teng is very motivated to study more and love begins to develop. They had a deal if the Ko Ching-Teng beats her in the exams, he would have cut his hair bald, or she would’ve tied a pony tail. But they both did it together even though one of them scored higher. The bond gets closer as soon as they had to drift apart during college years.

3. College Years

During college years, Ching-Teng spends all of his allowances and taking a long queue over the public phone just to call her long distance almost every night from university.

4. First Date

During the winter holiday season that year; they go on their first “unofficial” date. This scene Ching-Teng asks Chia-yi if she loves him. However, fearing that she would say no due to misuse of the word “immature” from Shen Chia-Yi to him too often, he refused to listen to her answer. But only if he had the courage to listen to it, the answer was actually yes, which was written by Chia-yi on the lantern.

5. Miscommunication

6. Realization

She then started a relationship with one of the friends but it did not last long as she still misses Ko Ching-Teng. At this very moment, at the café, looking outside the window, she saw the girl who was trying to make up with her boyfriend after a quarrel; she has come to realize the problem between her and Ko Ching-Teng: the foolish pride they both have kept.

7. Earthquake

During two years of not contacting each other, Ko Ching-Teng could not resist himself to call Chia-yi again after 921 earthquake, he was worried for her. During their long conversation with each other, they both lament the fact that they were not fated to become a couple. But here, Ko Ching-Teng said the title, she’ll always be the apple of his eye.

8. Motivated

After the conversation, they’ve finally completely drifted apart. This scene shows he has been motivated and starts writing stories online (blog).

9. “What if”

Years later, they were all invited to Shen Chia-Yi’s wedding. This is the actually the most classic part of the film. Many might have been misunderstood the meaning when Ko Ching-Teng was kissing the groom, with all the flash backs with him and Shen Chia-Yi. And one of the flash backs was the quarrel they had, that he regrets of not going back to apologize or else she would have been his. As why is he kissing the groom is because they were requesting if they could kiss the bride, and the groom said they could kiss the bride if only they kiss him the same way they want to kiss the bride. This scene, without any hesitation, Ko Ching-Teng kissed passionately on the groom, as if she’s kissing Shen Chia-Yi, which truly shows how much he loves the bride. And this ends the movie.

10. The theme song : “Those Years (那些年)”

The director(Giddens Ko’s (九把刀)) was also involved in some of this film’s theme songs, after hearing one of Japanese composer Mitsutoshi Kimura’s new compositions he chose it and added lyrics to the song name “Those Years” (那些年).

The lyrics was indeed touching, truly portrayed the male protagonist’s heart, melting every audience heart by knowing the lyrics that relates exactly to the movie.

It was an instant hit. The music video on YouTube logged its ten millionth views on 11 November 2011, leading the director to note that the song “broke every notable viewership record set by a Chinese-language video on Youtube”. In the Taiwanese KKBOX singles daily charts, “Those Years” remained at the top for 64 consecutive days, from 22 August to 22 October 2011, breaking the previous record of 45 consecutive days. The song was nominated for the Best Original Film Soundtrack award at the 48th Golden Horse Awards.

“You Are the Apple of My Eye” takes a trip down memory lane to revisit the exuberant times of school life, all the more realistic for its careful attention to the finer details with regards to time and settings, and its honest portrayal of classroom pranks, idiosyncratic behavior and the raging hormones of youth. It tells the tale of the motley crew of high school students, comprising of an impetuous and brash lad (Ke Zhendong), a studious and peckish young lady (Michelle Chen), with several other quirky, hilarious friends as they make their journey through high school, junior high and eventually adulthood. This is a personal piece of work, with the heart of the story based on a recount by the male lead of the affecting moments he spent with the girl who impacted his life with her pen-poking and constant nagging to revise, her willingness to stand up for what is right and her resolution in helping a fellow student better himself; the pen marks left behind is symbolic of the lingering memories of first love. The pair of young lovers put in commendable performances which make the romance and sweet rush of first love believable. Beneath the gross-out gags, coarse vulgarities and weird antics of the young and rebellious, lies a heartfelt and resonant tale, and the film’s thematic relevance to the passing of time, treasuring memories, and the understanding that love was never about possession, is made all the more poignant and earnest by the film’s bittersweet denouement. A rare gem of stirring and emotional drama laden with raunchy, nostalgic fun, “You Are the Apple of My Eye” deserves to be preserved as a classic like the fond memories of yore.

Some funny scenes hidden in the background

Box office

In Taiwan, the first Taiwanese film to gross over NT$$20 million before its official release date.

NT$200 million ten days after its official opening.

In total, the film earned over NT$420 million at the Taiwanese box office, the third-highest-grossing film of 2011 in Taiwan.

In Hong Kong, has grossed a total of HK$1,397,571 during its premiere (representing 50.6 percent of Hong Kong box-office earnings) on 20 October 2011.

Four days after its release had earned a total of HK$11,525,621, breaking the record for the highest-grossing film debuting in the month of October and also the highest-grossing opening weekend for a Taiwanese film at the Hong Kong box office, previously held by Lust, Caution in 2007 with a gross of $11,441,946.

During the final hours of 2011, over HK$61.28 million, making it the all-time highest-grossing Taiwanese film at the Hong Kong box office.

At the Macau box office,  earned more than HK$100,000 in its opening weekend, with nearly 100-percent attendance.

In Singapore  earned a total of SGD$675,000, making it the second-highest-grossing film in Singapore that weekend despite the film’s NC-16 raing (which meant that only viewers over age 16 were admitted); this surprised the film’s distributor, 20th Century Fox, the highest-grossing Asian film of 2011 at the Singapore box office, with earnings of SGD$2.93 million.

At China box office, You Are the Apple of My Eye became the most popular Taiwanese film, surpassing the previous record set by Cape No. 7 in 2008. It was the third-highest-earning film on its debut weekend, grossing about 27 million yuan. The film subsequently crossed the 50-million-yuan-gross mark on 13 January 2012.

Awards

Won

Year
Award
Category
Result
Recipient

2011
13th Taipei Film Festival
Audience Award
Won
You Are the Apple of My Eye

48th Golden Horse Awards
Best New Actor
Won
Ko Chen-tung

31st Hong Kong Film Awards
Best Film of Taiwan and China
Won
You are the Apple of My Eye

12th Chinese Film Media Awards
Best New Director
Won
Giddens Ko

Best New Actor
Won
Ko Chen-tung

Most Anticipated Film
Won
You Are the Apple of My Eye

Most Anticipated Performance
Won
Michelle Chen

Nominated

Year
Award
Category
Result
Recipient

2011
48th Golden Horse Awards
Best Actress
Nominated
Michelle Chen
Also for the film Tempest of First Love

Best New Director
Nominated
Giddens Ko

Best Original Film Song
Nominated
Those Years (那些年)

2012
6th Asian Film Awards
Best Actress
Nominated
Michelle Chen

Best Newcomer
Nominated
Ko Chen-tung

Most-watched Actress
Nominated
Michelle Chen

 
12th Chinese Film Media Awards
Most-watched Actress
Nominated
Michelle Chen