Random Musings

It’s hard not to be charmed by this sleeper hit from Taiwan that has taken the Hong Kong and Taiwanese market by storm recently.

And judging by the looks of things, “You Are the Apple of My Eye” looks set to take Singapore audiences by storm as well.

Our audience last night certainly enjoyed it tremendously.

The direction was fresh and quirky, and you can see that a lot of effort had been put in by the director.

It also showcased a lot of Taiwanese culture, if that is your kind of thing.

The humour was very crude at times, and I wasn’t too comfortable with the abundance of risque and sometimes meaningless antics.

But those aside, I thought the film was extremely funny, and yet managed to tell a very meaningful and satisfying story.

It takes you through an immense journey chronicling the highs and lows of the lives of a group of young Taiwanese students as they grow into young adults, and I’m pretty sure it will make you both laugh and cry, sometimes even at the same time.

I think it was the well-written ending that elevated the film from run-of-the-mill to something truly remarkable.

I like how they had a massive flashback montage at the end, and even introduced important missing pieces in the story (which were deliberately left as “question marks” earlier on), so that you had a sense of how far the characters had come in their lives, and had a clearer understanding of their perspectives and why they did what they did.

Be warned, though – the ending is not what you may expect.

*SPOILER ALERT*

One part which I liked was when the girl confessed to Ko that the reason why she hesitated to accept his advances all those years (even though she secretly liked him) was because she cherished his “chasing” personna, and she was (rightfully) fearful that the moment she accepted him, that she would lose that aspect of him forever.

In other words, she liked him best when he was earnestly chasing after her.

And I think it’s quite true in real life, you know.

People behave very differently when they are pining for something which they don’t have, and when they finally land it, it’s just very hard to expect them to continue to behave the same way.

I was just commenting to my friend who watched this film with me that sometimes in life, being able to finally get someone can feel really different from when you were dreaming about the person.

There is a huge gulf between fantasy (the “pining for someone” stage) and reality (the “getting someone” stage).

Which leads me to another thought.

I think in life, sad to say, some guys are cut out to be “boyfriend” material, and some guys are cut out to be “husband” material.

I just believe that this so.

Just like in the movie, I think Ko was never cut out to be husband material to Shen Jia Yi.

At most, he could have been a good boyfriend to her, but he was never going to be able to satisfy her by being her husband.

And I think Shen Jia Yi knew it, that’s why she settled for someone else in the end.

Another part which I also liked was right at the end, at the wedding dinner, when Ko said that the true test of liking someone is not that you want her for yourself, but that you want to see her being truly happy, even if it means seeing her marry someone else.

Which is absolutely true.

You know the saying – if you love someone set them free, or something like that.

For some reason, I’ve never really liked the sound of that saying, but I think there is a whole lot of truth to it.

The last scene at the wedding banquet could have been a painful and laborious one, but in the clever hands of the director, he made it thoroughly entertaining and engaging, creating a fitting ending for the film.

Go watch this film if you have the time.

I guarantee that you would find it entertaining, if not very touching.