Movie: 那些年 - "Those Bygone Years" (2011)

Rating: B-

I've never been to school in Asia, but from what I've heard / seen from friends and the media, 那些年 seems to give a pretty accurate depiction of the student life in Taiwan and I suppose fairly close to the student experience in Chinese Asia in general terms.



(Blogger's note: Sorry. This is the music video of the title song and not the Trailer)

This is a coming of age story of a group of friends going to school in Taiwan. I liked the fact that they didn't try to be cute, and tried to keep the story as realistic as possible; to a point where you could actually see that yeah...kids could quite possibly grow up like that. I also like that they didn't try to put a full cast of great looking kids out there, because let's face it, most people aren't good looking. HAHA. It really just seems like you're taking a glimpse into the lives of a group of very ordinary kids.


A friend of mine said that the depiction of the budding romance was a very accurate comparison to real life, I couldn't help but think back upon my own experiences back in school. Of all the people that I knew (not that I knew few or many), I only knew one person that spent their entire high school life trying to score a date with a girl. So while I understand that the movie was trying to focus on this one core group, the romantic relationship that underlined the group's dynamic seemed a little far fetched.

I don't know a single member of this cast, but the female lead really stood out for me. Watching her grow up and mature in front of the screen was a fantastic feat that left me extremely impressed with her performance. While the other members weren't nearly as noteworthy, I suppose that if we think of our own lives. How many of our lives would make for a good movie?

~Cheers.