You Are the Apple of My Eye
Encyclopedia
You Are the Apple of My Eye (那些年，我們一起追的女孩) is a 2011 Taiwanese romance film
based on the story of the same name by Taiwanese author Giddens. Giddens also made his directorial debut when he self-directed this film. The film stars actor Ko Chen-Tung, who plays Ko Ching-Teng, a prankster and a mischievous student who eventually becomes a writer. Actress Michelle Chen also stars as Shen Chia-yi, an honor student who is very popular amongst the boys in her class.
You Are the Apple of My Eye made its world premiere at the 13th Taipei Film Festival
on 25 June 2011. It was subsequently released in Taiwanese cinemas on 19 August 2011.
The film was well received by film critics, and it also set many box office records in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singaporean box office. Actor Ko Chen-Tung won the "Best Newcomer" award at the 48th Golden Horse Awards for his role in this film.
One English lesson, Chia-Yi has not brought her textbook to class. Pitying her, Ching-Teng slips her his and confesses the teacher to not bringing the textbook. Ching-Teng then endures a long lecture and is punished. Chia-Yi, moved by his act, prepares a practice paper for Ching-Teng in return, to encourage him to work hard in his studies. She also convinces him to stay after school to study with her. Since then, their relationship grows, and Ching-Teng's grades improve.
Upon graduation, Ching-Teng manages to enroll at the National Chiao Tung University
. Yet, Chia-Yi was unwell during examinations and enters the National Taipei University of Education
as a result of underperforming. Chia-Yi, depressed by the result, is consoled by Ching-Teng. Chia-Yi also receives long distance phone calls from Ching-Teng almost every night during their time at university. During the Christmas season that year, the two of them go for their first unofficial date.
Ching-Teng believes that men should show their "strength" to women, so he decides to organize a duel and invites Chia-Yi to spectate. However, Chia-Yi thinks Ching-Teng is childish to hold the duel and risk injuring himself. Ching-Teng is upset that Chia-Yi doesn't appreciate his show of strength, and breaks up with her.
After their break-up, Ah-He dates Chia-Yi for a short time, but breaks up five months later. In the two years after their breakup, Ching-Teng does not have any contact with Chia-Yi. In the meantime he qualifies for a research course at Tunghai University
upon graduation, where he starts to write web novels. Ching-Teng manages to maintain contact with Chia-Yi after the 921 earthquake
, when he called her to find out if she was injured.
Years later, in 2004, Chia-Yi calls Ching-Teng to tell him that she is getting married. All of her old friends gather at the wedding, joking about trying to embarrass the groom. Nevertheless, they are finally surprised that their past emotions have transformed into a profound friendship and ever calmness in their hearts. Ching-Teng begins work on a web novel about his experiences with Chia-Yi.
and Miss No Good
, but she is better known for her role in the 2009 film Hear Me. Mypaper reported that Giddens was attracted to her during their first meeting, saying that she resembled the real Shen Chia-Yi. Michelle went on a strict diet to lose weight to prepare for her role, and also put in a lot of effort to memorize her script. She said she did this to "not disappoint the director".
The supporting cast members of the film includes Hu Chia-Wei, Ao-Chuan, Yen Sheng-Yu, Hao Shao-Wen and Tsai Chang-Hsien. Hu Chia-Wei plays the role of herself in her teenage years. Ao-Chuan, a member of the Taiwanese boy band Lollipop F
, stars as Tsao Kuo-Sheng in this film.
In addition, Giddens was also involved in some of this film's theme songs. One of them is the song Those Years (那些年). At first, Giddens could not decide on the ending theme for this film. After hearing one of the Japanese composer Kimura Mitsutoshi's new composition, he loved it so much that he decided to chose this piece of music. Giddens later filled in the lyrics of this song. Giddens also composed the lyrics for the song The Lonely Caffeine (寂寞的咖啡因)
The song Those Years became an instant hit. The official music video on the video-sharing website Youtube
logged its 10 million viewer on 11 November 2011, leading the director to comment that this song "broke every notable viewership record set by a Chinese video on Youtube. In the Taiwanese KKBOX singles daily charts, Those Years reamined at the top position for 64 consecutive days from 22 August 2011 to 22 October 2011. This broke the previous record of 45 consecutive days set previously on this charts. This song was also nominated for "Best Original Film Soundtrack" award at the 48th Golden Horse Awards.
on 5 August 2011. It contains 6 songs sang by various artists and another 9 accompanying soundtracks used in the film.
on 25 June 2011, where it was one of the films in competition. The film also made its international debut as the opening film for the 6th Summer International Film Festival in Hong Kong. It then premiered in the Taiwanese box office on 19 August 2011.
Later, You Are the Apple of My Eye was screened at the 24th Tokyo International Film Festival
on 24 October 2011. There, the film was very well-received, with the audiences reportedly squeezing into the cinema, even to the extent that people needed to sit by the aisle. The director and the cast of this film were present at the event as well.
Outside of the Taiwanese box office, the film was released in Hong Kong
and Macau
on 20 October 2011. It was subsequently released in Singaporean and Malaysian box office on 10 November 2011. The director revealed that negotiations were ongoing for the film's release in the United States
and in Europe
.
described the film as a "larky retro coming-of-age confection". She praised the film, saying that it "injects a fresh, tart edge to the genre with a constantly self-mocking boys' angle.", which she described as an "alternative to Asian teen movies that tend to be syrupy". She also said that "The youthful cast has a limited register but offer enough self-conscious blasé posing.". In addition, she described the film's texture as "slightly over-bright".
The reporter for the Today
newspaper, Serene Lim, labelled the film as a "gentle tale of a teenage romance". She said that "Ko's talents as a novelist are evident", though his "attention to detail can get indulgently long-winded at times". She did, however, single out actor Ko Chen-Tung for praise, saying that "[he] thoroughly deserves his Golden Horse nomination for Best Newcomer, given his turn as the impetuous rebel made good.". Overall, she gave the film a rating of 3.5 out of 5. Yong Shu Hoong, writing for Mypaper, said that the "Flashback sequences can reek of oversentimentality", though the reviewer added that "the thrills, rivalries and heartbreak associated with high school romance are well depicted with nostalgia and humour.". This reviewer gave a rating of 3 out of 5.
Film Business Asia gave the film a rating of 7/10. Reviewer Derek Elley described the film as "a confident feature" and "slickly packaged in every department ", the latter which he says makes it "easy to miss the fact there's nothing at all original here.". He says praised the cast as "well-chosen individually and relaxed as an ensemble". He also said that "Apart from a slightly draggy second half, the material sustains itself at almost two hours, with generally trim editing by co-executive director Liao.". Lastly, he summarized the film's plot as "simple teenage rom-com, a will-they/won't-they between two opposites, but capped by a neat finale that does deliver some real emotion.".
$20 million during its soft launch in the Taiwanese box office. This makes it the first Taiwanese film to gross over NT$$20 million before its official release day. The film crossed the NT$200 million mark 10 days after its official opening. In total, the film earned over NT$410 million in the Taiwanese box office.
In Hong Kong, You Are the Apple of My Eye grossed a total of HK$
1,397,571 during its premiere, representing 50.6％ of the Hong Kong box office earnings on 20 October 2011. After four days in the box office, it earned a total of HK$11,525,621, breaking the record of the highest grossing film that debuted in the month of October. The record was previously set by the film Infernal Affairs II
in 2003, which earned HK$$8,941,266. It also broke Lust, Caution's
2007 record of $11,441,946, becoming the highest-grossing opening weekend for Taiwanese film in the Hong Kong box office. The film recorded the highest opening-4-day attendance in Hong Kong in 2011 with 211,163 attending, breaking 3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy's
previous record of 143,222. In addition, the film also has the highest 4-day gross of a 2D film in 2011. The film remained the highest grossing film in Hong Kong cinemas for 4 consecutive weekends.
In the Macau box office, You Are the Apple of My Eye earned more than HK$100,000 in its opening weekend with near 100% attendance.
In Singapore, You Are the Apple of My Eye earned a total of SGD
$675,000, making it the second highest-grossing film in Singapore that weekend. This is in spite of the fact that the film had a rating of NC-16, which meant that only viewers above the age of 16 were allowed to watch, thereby surprising the film's distributor 20th Century Fox
. The film also broke the record of the highest opening weekend for a Chinese film in Singapore. The previous record was set by the 2007 film Secret
, which earned $390,000 in Singapore. It also surpassed the performance of other Chinese films such as Monga
, Cape No. 7
and Lust, Caution
. As of 20 November 2011, the film grossed a total of 1.35 million in Singapore's box office.
Romance film
Romance films are love stories that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate involvement of the main characters and the journey that their love takes through courtship or marriage. Romance films make the love story or the search for love the main plot focus...
based on the story of the same name by Taiwanese author Giddens. Giddens also made his directorial debut when he self-directed this film. The film stars actor Ko Chen-Tung, who plays Ko Ching-Teng, a prankster and a mischievous student who eventually becomes a writer. Actress Michelle Chen also stars as Shen Chia-yi, an honor student who is very popular amongst the boys in her class.
You Are the Apple of My Eye made its world premiere at the 13th Taipei Film Festival
Taipei Film Festival
The Taipei Film Festival 台北電影節 is a film festival promoted by the city of Taipei, Taiwan, the Republic of China, through the Taipei City Department of Cultural Affairs....
on 25 June 2011. It was subsequently released in Taiwanese cinemas on 19 August 2011.
The film was well received by film critics, and it also set many box office records in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singaporean box office. Actor Ko Chen-Tung won the "Best Newcomer" award at the 48th Golden Horse Awards for his role in this film.
Plot
The story begins in 1994. Shen Chia-Yi is popular among teachers and her classmates as an outstanding student and a girl to date. She is also the class representative. Only mischievous Ko Ching-Teng claims having no interest in her, despite being her classmate since junior high school. One day, the class teacher arrangesfor Ching-Teng to sit in front of Chia-Yi after he was caught masturbating in class.One English lesson, Chia-Yi has not brought her textbook to class. Pitying her, Ching-Teng slips her his and confesses the teacher to not bringing the textbook. Ching-Teng then endures a long lecture and is punished. Chia-Yi, moved by his act, prepares a practice paper for Ching-Teng in return, to encourage him to work hard in his studies. She also convinces him to stay after school to study with her. Since then, their relationship grows, and Ching-Teng's grades improve.
Upon graduation, Ching-Teng manages to enroll at the National Chiao Tung University
National Chiao Tung University
National Chiao Tung University is a public university located in Hsinchu, Taiwan. It is recognized as one of the most prestigious and selective universities in Taiwan and is renowned for its research and teaching excellence in electrical engineering, computer science, engineering, management, and...
. Yet, Chia-Yi was unwell during examinations and enters the National Taipei University of Education
National Taipei University of Education
National Taipei University of Education is a university located in Taipei, Taiwan that predominantly focuses on teacher training...
as a result of underperforming. Chia-Yi, depressed by the result, is consoled by Ching-Teng. Chia-Yi also receives long distance phone calls from Ching-Teng almost every night during their time at university. During the Christmas season that year, the two of them go for their first unofficial date.
Ching-Teng believes that men should show their "strength" to women, so he decides to organize a duel and invites Chia-Yi to spectate. However, Chia-Yi thinks Ching-Teng is childish to hold the duel and risk injuring himself. Ching-Teng is upset that Chia-Yi doesn't appreciate his show of strength, and breaks up with her.
After their break-up, Ah-He dates Chia-Yi for a short time, but breaks up five months later. In the two years after their breakup, Ching-Teng does not have any contact with Chia-Yi. In the meantime he qualifies for a research course at Tunghai University
Tunghai University
Tunghai University was founded by Methodist missionaries in 1955 as a comprehensive university. It is a top-ranked private school and a leading institution in Taiwan. Moreover, Tunghai University was founded as the first private university making it the second oldest university in Taiwan, which...
upon graduation, where he starts to write web novels. Ching-Teng manages to maintain contact with Chia-Yi after the 921 earthquake
921 earthquake
The 921 earthquake , also known as Jiji earthquake , was a 7.3 Ms or 7.6 Mw earthquake which occurred at 1:47:12 am local time in Jiji , Nantou County, Taiwan. 2,415 people were killed, 11,305 injured, and NT$300 billion worth of damage was done...
, when he called her to find out if she was injured.
Years later, in 2004, Chia-Yi calls Ching-Teng to tell him that she is getting married. All of her old friends gather at the wedding, joking about trying to embarrass the groom. Nevertheless, they are finally surprised that their past emotions have transformed into a profound friendship and ever calmness in their hearts. Ching-Teng begins work on a web novel about his experiences with Chia-Yi.
Cast
- Ko Chen-Tung as Ko Ching-Teng, nicknamed 'Ko-Teng', a mischievous boy in his school days who later becomes a writer. Ko Ching-Teng is the actual name of the director Giddens.
- Michelle Chen as Shen Chia-Yi, a student who consistently scores well in tests and is an outgoing person. Because of her disdain for boys that are more stupid than herself, she decides to help Ching-Teng to improve his grades. In the process, she found herself falling in love with him.
- OwodogOwodogOwodog is a member of Lollipop F, a Taiwanese Mandopop boyband currently signed under the label Gold Typhoon . The group consists of six members, all chosen in 2006 from Channel [V] Taiwan's show 模范棒棒堂 , a show which sought to create new male artists in the entertainment business of Taiwan...
as Tsao Kuo-Sheng, nicknamed "Lao Tsao", one of Ching-Teng's friends. He used to have a huge crush on Chia-Yi, and once asked Ching-Teng to one a love letter to her on his behalf. - Steven Hao as Hsieh Ming-Ho, nicknamed "A-He", one of Ching-Teng's friend. He loves to eat, and is always made fun of by his friends due to this. He is the only person in the group who has officially dated Chia-Yi.
- Tsai Chang-Hsien as Liao Ying-Hung,one of Ching-Teng's best friends. He likes to crack jokes and perform magic tricks. He later became a librarian in a public library.
- Yen Sheng-yu as Hsu Bo-Chun, nicknamed 'Boner', one of Cheng-Teng's friends.
- Wan Wan as Hu Chia-Wei, Chia-yi's best friend. She likes to draw pictures, and after she graduated from school, became a manga artist who is known to the public as "The Queen of Blogs" (部落格天后).
Development
You Are the Apple of My Eye is based on Giddens's semi-autobiographical novel of the same name. However, according to Giddens, some of the details in the story were changed to make this film more dramatic. For example, the event where Ching-Teng and Chia-yi fought actually took place over the phone, not quarreling in the rain as this film depicts. He said that "although some of the reasons for the events in the film were changed, the whole storyline remained unchanged.". In addition, when asked if he was pressured by the recent success of Taiwanese films at the box office, Giddens replied, "No, I am more pressured by whether the film is nice to watch, whether it will succeed in the box office, and whether it will become an embarrassment for me. Also, if the film is not nice, it will be a letdown to Chen-Tung and Michelle, who have been working so hard.".Casting
Ko Chen-Tung stars as Ko Ching-Teng in You Are the Apple of My Eye, hence making his debut appearance in a film. Chen-Tung was specially selected by the film's production committee to play this role. In addition, Michelle Chen plays the role of the lead female character Shen Chia-Yi. She previously starred in many Taiwanese television drama series such as Why Why LoveWhy Why Love
Why Why Love is a 2007 Taiwanese Drama starring Rainie Yang, Mike He and Kingone Wang. Since all 3 starred in the 2005 China Television drama Devil Beside You, this was originally thought to be the sequel. However, Why Why Love is not the sequel and has a distinctly different story line. It was...
and Miss No Good
Miss No Good
Miss No Good is a 2008 Taiwanese drama starring Rainie Yang, Wilber Pan and Dean Fujioka. It was produced by Comic Ritz International Production with Chai Zhi Ping as producer and directed by Zhang Boyu ....
, but she is better known for her role in the 2009 film Hear Me. Mypaper reported that Giddens was attracted to her during their first meeting, saying that she resembled the real Shen Chia-Yi. Michelle went on a strict diet to lose weight to prepare for her role, and also put in a lot of effort to memorize her script. She said she did this to "not disappoint the director".
The supporting cast members of the film includes Hu Chia-Wei, Ao-Chuan, Yen Sheng-Yu, Hao Shao-Wen and Tsai Chang-Hsien. Hu Chia-Wei plays the role of herself in her teenage years. Ao-Chuan, a member of the Taiwanese boy band Lollipop F
Lollipop F
Lollipop F is a Taiwanese Mandopop boy band gaining popularity throughout Asia. Its group members were all chosen from Channel [V] Taiwan's show 模范棒棒堂 , a show which sought to create new male artists in the entertainment business of Taiwan...
, stars as Tsao Kuo-Sheng in this film.
Theme song
Childish (孩子氣), one of the film's soundtracks, was completely self-composed and sung by actress Michelle Chen. Director Giddens was so touched by the song that he shed tears "on the spot" after hearing this song for the first time. In particular, he praised the song's lyrics. He also praised Michelle's dedication towards her role, saying that "I believe that the reason that she managed to get inspiration to write this song is because she likes her role [in this film].".In addition, Giddens was also involved in some of this film's theme songs. One of them is the song Those Years (那些年). At first, Giddens could not decide on the ending theme for this film. After hearing one of the Japanese composer Kimura Mitsutoshi's new composition, he loved it so much that he decided to chose this piece of music. Giddens later filled in the lyrics of this song. Giddens also composed the lyrics for the song The Lonely Caffeine (寂寞的咖啡因)
The song Those Years became an instant hit. The official music video on the video-sharing website Youtube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
logged its 10 million viewer on 11 November 2011, leading the director to comment that this song "broke every notable viewership record set by a Chinese video on Youtube. In the Taiwanese KKBOX singles daily charts, Those Years reamined at the top position for 64 consecutive days from 22 August 2011 to 22 October 2011. This broke the previous record of 45 consecutive days set previously on this charts. This song was also nominated for "Best Original Film Soundtrack" award at the 48th Golden Horse Awards.
Soundtrack
The original soundtrack album for the film You Are the Apple of My Eye was released by Sony Music Entertainment TaiwanSony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
on 5 August 2011. It contains 6 songs sang by various artists and another 9 accompanying soundtracks used in the film.
Release
You Are the Apple of My Eye made its debut at the 13th Taipei Film FestivalTaipei Film Festival
The Taipei Film Festival 台北電影節 is a film festival promoted by the city of Taipei, Taiwan, the Republic of China, through the Taipei City Department of Cultural Affairs....
on 25 June 2011, where it was one of the films in competition. The film also made its international debut as the opening film for the 6th Summer International Film Festival in Hong Kong. It then premiered in the Taiwanese box office on 19 August 2011.
Later, You Are the Apple of My Eye was screened at the 24th Tokyo International Film Festival
Tokyo International Film Festival
Tokyo International Film Festival is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biannually from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter...
on 24 October 2011. There, the film was very well-received, with the audiences reportedly squeezing into the cinema, even to the extent that people needed to sit by the aisle. The director and the cast of this film were present at the event as well.
Outside of the Taiwanese box office, the film was released in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...
on 20 October 2011. It was subsequently released in Singaporean and Malaysian box office on 10 November 2011. The director revealed that negotiations were ongoing for the film's release in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Critical reception
Maggie Lee of The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
described the film as a "larky retro coming-of-age confection". She praised the film, saying that it "injects a fresh, tart edge to the genre with a constantly self-mocking boys' angle.", which she described as an "alternative to Asian teen movies that tend to be syrupy". She also said that "The youthful cast has a limited register but offer enough self-conscious blasé posing.". In addition, she described the film's texture as "slightly over-bright".
The reporter for the Today
Today (Singapore newspaper)
Today is a free English-language compact in Singapore published by government-owned MediaCorp print media arm. It is distributed from Monday to Sunday....
newspaper, Serene Lim, labelled the film as a "gentle tale of a teenage romance". She said that "Ko's talents as a novelist are evident", though his "attention to detail can get indulgently long-winded at times". She did, however, single out actor Ko Chen-Tung for praise, saying that "[he] thoroughly deserves his Golden Horse nomination for Best Newcomer, given his turn as the impetuous rebel made good.". Overall, she gave the film a rating of 3.5 out of 5. Yong Shu Hoong, writing for Mypaper, said that the "Flashback sequences can reek of oversentimentality", though the reviewer added that "the thrills, rivalries and heartbreak associated with high school romance are well depicted with nostalgia and humour.". This reviewer gave a rating of 3 out of 5.
Film Business Asia gave the film a rating of 7/10. Reviewer Derek Elley described the film as "a confident feature" and "slickly packaged in every department ", the latter which he says makes it "easy to miss the fact there's nothing at all original here.". He says praised the cast as "well-chosen individually and relaxed as an ensemble". He also said that "Apart from a slightly draggy second half, the material sustains itself at almost two hours, with generally trim editing by co-executive director Liao.". Lastly, he summarized the film's plot as "simple teenage rom-com, a will-they/won't-they between two opposites, but capped by a neat finale that does deliver some real emotion.".
Box office
You Are the Apple of My Eye grossed more than NT$New Taiwan dollar
The New Taiwan dollar , or simply Taiwan dollar, is the official currency of the Taiwan Area of the Republic of China since 1949, when it replaced the Old Taiwan dollar...
$20 million during its soft launch in the Taiwanese box office. This makes it the first Taiwanese film to gross over NT$$20 million before its official release day. The film crossed the NT$200 million mark 10 days after its official opening. In total, the film earned over NT$410 million in the Taiwanese box office.
In Hong Kong, You Are the Apple of My Eye grossed a total of HK$
Hong Kong dollar
The Hong Kong dollar is the currency of the jurisdiction. It is the eighth most traded currency in the world. In English, it is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively HK$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
1,397,571 during its premiere, representing 50.6％ of the Hong Kong box office earnings on 20 October 2011. After four days in the box office, it earned a total of HK$11,525,621, breaking the record of the highest grossing film that debuted in the month of October. The record was previously set by the film Infernal Affairs II
Infernal Affairs II
Infernal Affairs II is a 2003 Hong Kong crime-thriller film directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak.It is a prequel to the 2002 film Infernal Affairs. Anthony Wong, Eric Tsang, Edison Chen, Shawn Yue, and Chapman To reprise their roles from the original film alongside new cast members Carina Lau,...
in 2003, which earned HK$$8,941,266. It also broke Lust, Caution's
Lust, Caution
Lust, Caution is an 2007 Chinese espionage thriller film directed by Ang Lee, based on the novella of the same name published in 1950 by Chinese author Eileen Chang. The story is mostly set in Hong Kong in 1938 and in Shanghai in 1942, when it was occupied by the Imperial Japanese Army and ruled by...
2007 record of $11,441,946, becoming the highest-grossing opening weekend for Taiwanese film in the Hong Kong box office. The film recorded the highest opening-4-day attendance in Hong Kong in 2011 with 211,163 attending, breaking 3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy's
3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy
3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy is a 2011 Hong Kong 3-D erotic costume drama film released in Hong Kong, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand on 14 April 2011...
previous record of 143,222. In addition, the film also has the highest 4-day gross of a 2D film in 2011. The film remained the highest grossing film in Hong Kong cinemas for 4 consecutive weekends.
In the Macau box office, You Are the Apple of My Eye earned more than HK$100,000 in its opening weekend with near 100% attendance.
In Singapore, You Are the Apple of My Eye earned a total of SGD
Singapore dollar
The Singapore dollar or Dollar is the official currency of Singapore. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively S$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
$675,000, making it the second highest-grossing film in Singapore that weekend. This is in spite of the fact that the film had a rating of NC-16, which meant that only viewers above the age of 16 were allowed to watch, thereby surprising the film's distributor 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
. The film also broke the record of the highest opening weekend for a Chinese film in Singapore. The previous record was set by the 2007 film Secret
Secret (2007 film)
Secret , is a 2007 Taiwanese romance film. It is the directorial debut feature film of Taiwanese musician Jay Chou, who also stars as the male lead and co-wrote the movie.The Secret Original Soundtrack was released by JVR Music on 13 August 2007....
, which earned $390,000 in Singapore. It also surpassed the performance of other Chinese films such as Monga
Monga (film)
Monga is a 2010 Taiwanese gangster film set in 1980s Taipei. The film stars Ethan Ruan from TV series Fated To Love You and Mark Chao, also features Ma Ju-Lung from Cape No.7 and Rhydian Vaughan from Winds of September...
, Cape No. 7
Cape No. 7
Cape No. 7 ) is a 2008 Taiwanese romance comedic music-drama film written and directed by Wei Te-Sheng, his first full-length motion picture. The film is in Taiwanese and Mandarin Chinese with significant lines in Japanese. Before its commercial release, the film was world premiered on June 20,...
and Lust, Caution
Lust, Caution
Lust, Caution is an 2007 Chinese espionage thriller film directed by Ang Lee, based on the novella of the same name published in 1950 by Chinese author Eileen Chang. The story is mostly set in Hong Kong in 1938 and in Shanghai in 1942, when it was occupied by the Imperial Japanese Army and ruled by...
. As of 20 November 2011, the film grossed a total of 1.35 million in Singapore's box office.
Accolades
| Year | Award | Category | Result | Recipient |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 13th Taipei Film Festival Taipei Film Festival The Taipei Film Festival 台北電影節 is a film festival promoted by the city of Taipei, Taiwan, the Republic of China, through the Taipei City Department of Cultural Affairs.... |
Audience Award | You Are the Apple of My Eye | |
| 48th Golden Horse Awards Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards is a film festival and awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. It was founded in 1962, by Government Information Office, Republic of China... |
Best Actress | Michelle Chen Also for the film Tempest of First Love |
||
| Best New Actor | Ko Chen-Tung | |||
| Best New Director | Giddens Ko | |||
| Best Original Film Song | Those Years (那些年) | |||