I always regret not checking out this film earlier because I loved it so much and I think I would have gotten more out of it if I'd seen all the promotional content as it came out. But I do live overseas and the film didn't come out over here till November, so I guess I have an excuse...
Anyway, although I missed out on a lot of magazine shots and things like that (It's impossible to buy a copy of the Our Times Vivi Magazine. Both covers sold out and I can't find any back copies T^T) I'm still lucky that there's still beautiful photos of Vivian, Darren and Dino floating around. Take for instance these Shine Magazine photos. Bless Shine Magazine. Not only are these photos still accessible, they're gorgeous, bright and attractive photos.
The first set of Shine Magazine photos are early promotional photo shot for the film with Vivian, Darren and Dino, while the second set of Shine photos were done with just Vivian and Darren on Chinese Valentine's day. There's an interview that goes with those photos...you can find that video along with a quick translation here. Or maybe I'll include it below as well.
Early shots with Vivian, Darren and Dino
Also includes these mini interviews where they're given 2 answer questions and they have to quickly say what comes to mind first.
Chinese Valentine's Day shots with Vivian and Darren
The video relating to these photos is here...This is by another channel. Shine TV has a version of this interview, but this version is of better quality and I think it shows the longer version of the interview.
Yep, I'm still obsessed with Our Times. I think aside from the film itself which I really enjoyed for the comedy, romance and 90's nostalgia, I also really love all the cast chemistry...Vivian and Darren are both really comfortable and playful around each other, having known each other long before they worked on this film together, and Dino Lee, Dewi Chien and the other cast members really get along. Most of the cast are around the same age and are rookie actors, so they love hanging together outside of the film and have really bonded together.
For today's post I've compiled a bunch of their interviews promoting the film. This dates back to probably July or August when Our Times was starting to hit the cinemas in Taiwan. I'm not going to translate all of them, but I'll translate little snippets which I liked from most of the videos.
This is a pretty shoot that ViVi magazine did with Vivian Sung, Darren Wang and Dino Lee for Our Times. It's short, but has lots of pretty Behind the Scenes photos...
Vivian: Hello to everyone of Vivi's readers, hope everyone is well. I am Vivian Sung.
Dino: I am Dino Lee
Darren: I'm Darren Wang
-Cuts to Dino talking-
Dino: Extremely happy...even though these two are continuously at my side...being all affectionate and lovey dovey.
Dino: Yeah. Valentine's day has clearly passed already! I can only be at the side...making calls on my phone and reading my book ---Haha, he's referring to the props he's been given for the photo shoot!---
Dino: Things like this.
Vivian, teasing with a grin: It's hard for you, isn't it?
Dino: It's ok. I'm already use to it.
---Haha, I love how deadpan Dino is acting. Haha!---
Darren: (Should we)help you to find Tao Min Min and call her over
Dino jokingly rolls his eyes and Vivian and Darren laughs.
-Cuts to Darren talking-
Darren: Just wanted to say, My older sister loves to read ViVi magazine. And then, hoping when she sees me in it, I can scare her so much that she jumps!
-Cuts to Vivian talking-
Vivian: And then...my words today are...today we tasted and tried many different types of styles. I feel it's veryyy interesting...
Vivian: And then normally, in private, we're actually...everyone plays around crazily...But today is for taking photos. After dressing up suddenly we've changed into quiet, peaceful (people). (Vivian laughs). Actually, I'm a little bit not too use to this! Dino: Today, we have to be a bit more cool. It's completely different to how we are privately and normally.
Darren: So buy this month's Vivi Magazine, go home and flip through it slowly, look through it slowly.
Darren: And then after work, put it on the side and when you see (this) pretty girl, you'll feel very happy. ---He says pretty girl ambiguously, but there's only one pretty girl in the shoot, so he's referring to Vivian :D---
I'm thinking of buying a copy of the magazine as I can't find any scans and doing them myself because the photos are just too cute!
Watching all of these again makes me want to watch the film all over again. I've collected all the major behind the scenes video for Our Times and I plan to make quick translations for them....once I get the time of course! Please keep an eye out for the translations :)
Lin Zhen Xin - Vivian Sung
Hsu Tai Yu - Darren Wang
Ou Yang Fei Fan and Tao Min Min - Dino Lee and Dewi Chien
Adult Lin Zhen Xin and Hsu Tai Yu - Joe Chen and Jerry Yan
Friends of Lin Zhen Xin and Hsu Tai Yu
Parents and Teachers of Lin Zhen Xin and Hsu Tai Yu
Theme Song Singer - Hebe Tian
Director and Producer - Frankie Chen and Yeh Ju Fen
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 :)
