Our Times (2015) Reviews

• A Simple Story of First Love, Poison Chain Letters and Teenage Idols That is Well-Cast, Well-Acted, Well-Written and Thoughtfully Made

  ctowyi2015-10-26

  Some Kind of Wonderful (1987) is untouchable. Back in 1987 I first saw it with a guy and both of us loved it tremendously, but hated the fact that we had seen it with each other. On that same fateful day we cooked up a plan to double-date and watch the movie again. Of course we didn't tell our respective partner that we had seen it. What transpired during dinner after the movie is the stuff of stories. The girls looked at us completely awed with the priceless stuff that spewed out of our mouths. This is what happens when you see movies with cine-heads like us after mulling over a movie for some time - movies are not just movies; they are events. Some Kind of Wonderful has always been one of my "test" films for girls. I choose the girl for life based on her appreciation of it and to ace the test means how euphoric she becomes and how many joyful tears were shed. The girl who passed with flying colours eventually became my other half. You are now probably thinking whether you are reading the right review. The thing is Some Kind of Wonderful is not quite untouchable anymore. Our Times borrows the same formula and puts a new spin on it. It is right now the number hit in Taiwan this year and it is easy to see why. The movie takes us on a 20-year journey through the life of the main character, Truly Lin (Vivian Sung). Seen mostly as a flashback to how her life wound up where it is, we follow Truly back to her senior high school year and watch as she teams up with TaiYu (Darren Wang) to break apart growing love between rivals Ouyang (Dino Lee) and Minmin (Dewi Chien). Through the course of the next year we watch all 4 teens mature, and in the end, nothing is as originally desired. Our Times is ridden with age-old clichés and formulaic to a fault, but it still manages to stay fresh with a winsome cast and spot-on emotional beats. The movie wears its big heart on its sleeve and for anyone who was a student in the 80s the movie will envelope you in a bubble of nostalgia. If you ask me, nothing beats the 80s on so many levels. Like my "test" movie and You Are the Apple of My Eye (2011), Our Times is not about whether the girl/guy will get the guy/girl in the end. It is about whether the girl/guy deserves the guy/girl. Not many movie narratives dare to ask the question and this one plays the game so well that it will harken you back to the best of times - the time when saying "I like you" to the one you like is the hardest thing to do in the world because if you don't get a "I like you too" back it practically feels like the end of the world. Those are the times when the ills and pulls of society and familial responsibility have not put its deadly spell on you yet, and there is a wind beneath your feet and wings on your back. A sense of invincibility and fragility permeates your entire being. The movie captures all that for me and puts me in a warm place. Our Times may feel like kids' stuff with a whole lot of slapstick, monster-teacher clichés and teenage stereotypes, but its pluses out-weigh the minuses. It is a simple story of first love, poison chain letters and teenage idols (mine was Seiko Matsuda and I carried a photo of her in my wallet ) that is well-cast, well-acted, well-written and thoughtfully made. Watching this is like witnessing little stars slowly going supernova. The chemistry between the leads burns like a bonfire and any movie that can somehow make me swim in the best years of my teenage life scores big-time. The last act has two major cameos that took me out of the story a little, but by then I was so vested in the characters that it doesn't matter anyway. Our Times crosses the finishing line with finesse and sent us going off into the rest of our lives with a bounce in our step. I hope it will be the same for you.

• The first love and the first heartbreak.

  Reno-Rangan2016-03-14

  This is the very closest movie to my favourite Thai teen rom-com 'A Little Thing Called Love'. In fact a few scenes are almost resembling, including the main characters and love quadrilateral. So there's no wrong if I call it the Taiwan version of that movie. I thought I am going through again in another language, but I was not uninterested to sit for it because it was a beautiful story that I can re-watch numerous times without losing any interest. Remember its not the same movie, but only a similar themed flick, or maybe a highly inspired by that. This film had its own share of story and character developments. The third act was obviously a bit stretched, but twist came at early in that section and turned this tale into entirely different from what we thought going to happen. Except the second conclusion (I mean the real time ending, not the flashback's) which was so old fashioned. I found some similarities with my life and that Thai movie I mentioned, because that was based on the true story of everyone's first love and so this one. So finding a slice of your life in it is very much possible. The story of an ordinary girl, but it opens with a young woman recalls her school days after discovering her successful life was seen differently by others from her back. That takes us to the early 90s, like every girl in the school how her crush on a most handsome boy on the campus changes the course of her romance life after receiving a prank letter that states she must forward it to others. "When we say it's okay, it means it's not okay. If we say I am fat, that means we hope you can tell us you're not fat at all." Obviously it is a girl movie from a teenage girl's perspective narration. But as a movie fanatic, I never had any issues with such kind of movies or any others and to like them openly. Basically, I watch any movies because I want to be an all-rounder, not to stick to my age or what I'm. This movie simply reminds my school days and would do same to you as well. The school culture is different from European and North American to the rest of the world, especially in Asia. But if you're from South, Southeast or East Asian, you will get familiar feeling with this film and that will helps you to like the movie a lot. In a few parts it lost its reality touch to, you know things that happen only in movies, especially as I said the ending and scenes that tried hard to bring laughs. You love this only for the flashback narration. The first and the last 5 minutes were ordinary. Everyone's performance was phenomenal, totally engaging storytelling. In this particular movie it was not about how much predictable, even if you feel deja-vu, but how it pleases you with those quirky atmosphere. A youthful Taiwanese film I liked very much since 'You Are the Apple of My Eye'. It does not look like it was made by an incoming director. There were plenty of fun, but on the emotional side, it was slightly weak. But overall it was one of the best coming-of-age movie of all time and recently I have seen. It's already gained a cult status from youngsters that you can find fan made arts across the web. Don't give up on this if you are an adult or adult male, entertainment should be the preference and what comes beyond that is not your choice, but the natural response from your inside. Despite the length of the movie, it had an energetic pace with fine music and heartwarming scenes. In general, I recommend it to all, especially if you like teen romance. 9/10

• A truly magical journey that will leave you breathless and crying

  bethelabba-553-2276532015-08-28

  I've lived in Taiwan for 7 years now. I've seen movies like Jay Chou's "Secret" put a fine twist on the Sci-Fi genre, Cape #7 dominate the box office (pulling in half a billion dollars in Taiwan's currency) and KANO leave an amazing lasting impression --- yet nothing prepared me for the stunning beauty of this simple love story set mostly in 1994 era Haulien. Though the movie has modern day bookends (opening & closing the movie is a sort of "Where did it all go wrong" prologue) the main brunt of the time is spent following Truly Lin as she matures through her senior year of high school. What starts as a simple coming of age story starts taking on a life of it's own through the sheer force of the main two characters, Lin Truly & Hsu TaiYu. (In Chinese, last names are first) Vivian Sung plays the younger version of Truly Lin and Darren Wang the younger version of TaiYu Hsu. Both actors bring such amazing life to the characters that midway through the movie you will have forgotten there are other characters actually in the movie. They both dominate the movie powerfully, showing vividly the awkwardness, determination, innocence and zest for life that so accompany being a teenager. Doubtless, the way these two play off each other will be studied for years to come and copied by many Taiwanese directors and screen writers. Their performance was honestly flawless. I don't want to spoil the movie in any way, but I've already seen it three times in one week and it is really hard not to sing the praise of something so magical --- I guess the simplest way to put it is that this is one of the most breathtaking movies I've ever seen, start to finish. As one of my ESL students remarked on her Facebook page, "went to the bathroom after the movie, and every girl there was puffy-eyed from crying." It really will do that to you, even after the credits start rolling.

• A Simple Love Story Is Better Than Fake Love Fiction

  BlankerL2015-11-21

  I just want to talk about the story's timeline and actors without talking about any shooting skills. As for the leading actress (Yunye Song), she does really well in the movie. To be a pure girl in senior high school, she is undoubtedly good at it. Being the leading actress in Café·Waiting·Love (2014) made her know clearly what she is good at. In this movie, she turned to be a ugly girl at the beginning, and became a pretty girl because of falling in love. Thousands of people say that the most vulgar movie will take the chance of owning the best title, I support this point of view, one could easily figure out what will happen next in this movie, but you are still willing to wait for it to take place. Like all love stories in 1990s' Taiwan, this story is pure and make people feel relaxed. When you are watching it, you felt like taking a nap. When all the story came to an end, you just thought all the story was in your SWEET DREAM. The leading actor (Dalu Wang) is a born rascal and his eye can tell everything. Judging from his eye, his love and anger are evidential. Gotten the first chance to be the leading actor, he grab the chance like Zhendong Ke in You Are The Apple of My Eye, I believe he will be the next generation famous stars in China. The scene is of great beauty, everything is set according the past, there is no contradiction with history in this movie. There are lots of bonus in this movie, Andy Lau in flesh, Jerry Yan in flesh, even Jiayi Shen (an character in You Are The Apple of My Eye) are in this movie. But I only can vote it 9 out of 10, because there are some plots the same as those in You Are The Apple Of My Eye, which I voted 10 out of 10 and have watched for more than 5 times.

• A wholeheartedly beautiful movie...

  paul_haakonsen2017-05-01

  Being a sucker for the Asian cinema, I needed no persuasion to sit down and watch "Our Times" when I was given the chance to do so. And prior to sitting down to watch it, I didn't even know what the movie was about. Nor did I actually know of its existence. "Our Times" actually turned out to be quite a good movie, as it had a beautiful storyline, a good and detailed character gallery, a fair amount of comedy, and it had a good ensemble of cast. What worked out well for the storyline was the way that writer Yung-Ting Tseng had manage to weave a story that spans over many years, revolving around the essential core characters of the storyline without losing the red line throughout the story as time passes by. But more so, also the adept approach of director Yu Shan Chen in bringing the script to life on the screen. This is the kind of movie that will appeal to a broad variety of people in the audience, because there is a lot of different layers to the movie and lots of different topics. The actors and actresses cast for the various roles and characters were doing really good jobs at bringing their respective characters to life on the screen. And it was a pure joy to watch their individual and collective performances in the movie. "Our Times" was definitely a very enjoyable movie, one that is driven by a powerful and beautiful storyline, as well as a fantastic character gallery. This is the type of movie that you will easily be able to view more than just a single time around. I was thoroughly entertained by "Our Times" and can warmly recommend that you take the time to sit down and watch it, regardless of it you like Chinese cinema or not.