You Are the Apple of My Eye
2011 · Directed by Giddens Ko
Original language: Chinese
- romance
- comedy
- drama
The story
A group of close friends who attend a private school all have a debilitating crush on the sunny star pupil, Shen Chia-yi. The only member of the group who claims not to is Ko Ching-teng, but he ends up loving her as well.
What it’s like
Warm, bright, and nostalgic in a bittersweet way, with saturated Taiwanese school-year colour: sunlit hallways, green campus lawns, rain-slick streets and night-market neon, all shot with a loose, sun-flared softness that makes ordinary afternoons glow. The camera stays close and conversational, often lingering on faces during quiet exchanges, and the pop-rock soundtrack and sweet acoustic cues keep the energy buoyant even when the mood turns wistful. Its vibe is sunny nostalgia with a tender ache, the kind of film that suits a lazy weekend afternoon, a comfort rewatch, or a long train ride when you want to feel young again. Pacing is brisk and playful in the first half, then slows into reflective, emotional stretches as the years pass. The arcs follow a close-knit group of friends as their teenage crushes and loyalties shift and bruise, and then mature into quieter, more complicated affection. Intensity is low: there is no violence, no gore, and no sexual content, though the heartbreak and some teenage cruelty sting. It is for viewers who want gentle romance, earnest friendship, and the bittersweet pull of looking back on first love.
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