Film Opinion Piece: Our Times 我的少女時代 - A Brilliant nostalgia piece looking at first love

So this film was released ages ago in Taiwan (and across Asia), where it took the box office by storm (It's been one of the top 5 highest grossing Taiwanese films to date)...but it's only recently hit cinemas in Australia...so I finally got to check out what all the hype was about...and I totally loved this film!!!

Note: I talk about the story line with no spoilers, but I do describe one or two scenes briefly to explain what I like about the film. Just a heads up for you, just in case!

Official Trailer:

The story follows a woman in her mid-thirties, Lin Zhen Xin or Truly Lin (Vivian Sung), who looks like she has it all, but is actually quite unhappy. One bad night, she reminisces about her high school days...in particular, about how she accidentally met and befriended the school delinquent, Hsu Tai Yu (Darren Wang) when she was just a shy, nerdy girl.

Throughout her high school life, Lin Zhen Xin has a crush on the school's popular, all-rounder, Ou Yang Fei Fan, while Hsu Tai Yu likes the pretty 'it' girl, Tao Min Min.

As Ou Yang and Min Min start to get cozy with each other, Lin Zhen Xin and Hsu Tai Yu hatch a plan to help each other get the person of their dreams...

But as their plans start to succeed, they start to realize that sometimes the things you truly want are closer to you than you think...

Overall, this has been one of the best Taiwanese films I've seen to date, and one of the best films in the high-school comedy-romance genre. Because the memories are set in the 90's (the adult story is set in the present-day), the film plays with a lot of 90's nostalgia, especially with its comedy elements. Sending out chain letters in the mail, worshiping Asian idols like Andy Lau and wearing bad 90's fashion all add to the fun of the film. These elements also help to achieve all those perfect laugh-out-loud moments, hitting the comedy on point throughout the film. Sometimes Taiwanese films tend to go down the slap-stick route and try too hard...but this film was perfectly funny and comical.

There was also a great balance of romance and drama. Poignant and sweet, the story is always tugging at your heartstrings, but never slipping into ridiculous melodrama. The little moments, the teasing conversations, the simple glances at the other person, the heartfelt smiles and the look of pain when walking away, all worked to create a cute romance that gradually draws in the audience. There weren't too too many rom-com Asian drama cliches (just a few), but were some pretty dreamy screen moments, like when the main characters sat star-gazing while camping.

The leads, relative new-comers Vivian Sung and Darren Wang, had beautiful on-screen chemistry together and were both strong performers. Vivian Sung, in particular, had a natural way of acting that gave her character heart and made her quite believable as a nerdy teen.

Darren Wang also had the charisma to pull off the bad boy with the heart of gold in a way that charmed all the audience in my cinema...

The film also features some big name appearances by Jerry Yan and Andy Lau. Not to mention that the theme song is by Hebe Tian of S.H,E. While I'm often not a big fan of ballads, the song has been stuck in my head since I've seen the film...probably because it reflected the story so well!

Hebe Tian's A Little Happiness - Our Times Original Soundtrack

The only thing I would say that was so-so about the film would be the adult 'present day' story - that falls into the more conventional tale of a lot of romance films and feels a bit tired. The ending is also perhaps a bit too tidy. But given that most of the story is about the high school years, and the film has the sort of ending you'd want for a rom-com, I think that Our Times is definitely worth watching! There's so many feel-good and laugh-worthy moments that you walk out of the cinema feeling happy and light. The acting is good and the final product is pretty solid. I'd give this film a 9/10 and recommend catching it at your local cinema! In Melbourne, Australia, it's screening in Chinatown Cinemas and Hoyts :)