Even though described by its director as semi-autobiographical, “You Are the Apple of My Eye” is probably one of the most biographical films in history. For starters, the movie is based on the semi-autobiographical, homonymous novel by the director, who used his entire savings and mortgaged his house to raise money, saying that he did it to impress his ex-girlfriend, who provided the inspiration for this film's female protagonist. Furthermore, the movie was filmed almost entirely on location in Changhua County, including the high school which Giddens attended. The result was a crowning success, with the film receiving positive reviews, a number of awards and was a huge success in the box office, both locally and in other Asian countries.
The film begins in 1994 and focuses on Ko Ching-teng, a mischievous and poor student who frequently gets in trouble along with his band of classmates, who have been together since junior highschool. Tsao is somewhat of a bully, Hsieh is the fatso of the company, Liao is supposed to be the funny guy but all he does is play lousy magic tricks, and Hsu Bo-chun is the nerd, and also the one with constant boners. Despite their differences, all of them seem to have a crash on the class's beauty, Shen, an outstanding student who is a popular among her teachers and classmates, and has Hu as her best friend.
One day, Ching-teng and the rest are caught masturbating during class, and the principal reseats him, placing him in front of Shen, whom she also tasks with being responsible for him and shaping him up. Although she is frequently infuriated with his childhood ways, the girl soon warms up to him, although their relationship does not move forward, even as the years pass and even after graduation. Ko, however, who has already confessed his feelings to her, continues to pursue.
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Giddens Ko directs a movie that revolves mostly around two axes. The first one is the romantic one, with the ‘will-they-won't-they' aspect essentially carrying almost to the end of the story, while the second is the adolescent buffoonery of young boys, with Ko making a direct comment about the difference in level of maturity between boys and girls of that age. The combination of the two works quite well, also due to the difference in presentation, as the former is dramatic and sensitive to a point, while the latter is crude and focusing significantly on masturbation, which does eventually emerge as one of the central themes of the whole narrative.
Furthermore, the differences and similarities of the boys, and the differences between the two protagonists also work quite well, with Ko creating a rather appealing chemistry among his actors, which works both in the dramatic and the comedic (who are much more) moments. This aspect benefits the most by the acting. Kai Ko as Ko Ching-teng plays the buffoon who gets in love, which makes him even more of a buffoon, with gusto. Michelle Chen as Shen Chia-yi plays the model student who warms to the class “punk” convincingly, with the chemistry of the two being among the best traits of the movie.
The scene in the rain in particular highlights both their different characters and their relationship in the most eloquent and impactful fashion. The scene also showcases another comment about the omni-present issue of relationships between women and men, with the former always wishing the latter to understand them without expressing their thoughts and feelings vocally, and the latter continuously failing to do so.
From the rest of the actors, Steven Hao as Hsieh Ming-ho stands out as the only somewhat serious individual among the group while Wan Wan as Hu Chia-wei highlights her eccentricity quite nicely.
Apart from the aforementioned, Ko has filled his movie with gag jokes, most of which revolve around masturbation, a number of music video scenes, and some flash forwards that are quite well embedded in the story as is the sense of nostalgia for the 90s. Chou Yi-hsien's cinematography captures everything through a ‘glossy', filled with color approach that suits the narrative to perfection. Liao Ming-Yi's editing results in a rather fast pace, which is also suiting, with the cuts and their placement probably being the best technical aspect of the movie.
“You Are the Apple of My Eye” is an excellent teen romance, and although somewhat excessive on occasion (the masturbation in particular) and despite the fact that Ko shot better movies later on, remains his most memorable work.
