18×2 Beyond Youthful Days (2024) User Reviews

A tale of first loves and much more...

[brownandcream · 8/10 · 4 August 2024]

Very good storytelling that unfolds between flashbacks and the present 18 years apart. Also found the 3 way narrative very interesting and enlightening. The story bounces from the perspectives of one protagonist to the other and then back again; the same scenes but story told from a different angle and a final response from the first protagonist.

The purity of a simple first love woven with messy setbacks of adulthood. A colorful temple, lively KTV and bustling night market scenes of Taiwan contrasting with a grey tone castle, one-customer-in-the-whole-noodle-shop night supper and quiet winter beauty of Japan. These multilayered and textured settings are so close to the heart for a Taiwanese and Japanese culture junkie like me. Like a parallel drawn in two spaces and time, the poignant sky lantern scenes mark stark differences in moods and aspirations.

I do recommend this highly to those in need of closure, to whom who have loved & lost, to the many who might feel lost (don't we all, at some point in time?) and lastly more lightheartedly to those who want a culture trip. ^__^

A love letter to Iwai Shunji

[LunarPoise · 8/10 · 24 June 2024]

Jimmy (Greg Hsu) is a Taiwanese video-game entrepreneur who has his company taken from him. This forces an existential crisis, and he goes on a road-trip 'in search of himself' in Japan, inspired by his first love, a Japanese backpacker called Ami (Kaya Kiyohara) who he worked with in Taiwan nearly two decades before.

This is a film that relies on formulaic elements, clunky coincidence, and some forced plot points, but surprisingly, it works. Much of the success is down to the two leads, who disarm audiences with their genuine affection. Greg Hsu does a fine job playing Jimmy in two timelines 18 years apart, as a love-struck teenager and then a jaded businessman. Kiyohara is effortlessly charming, and shows her chops in the later scenes when it is revealed Ami is battling illness. The tale of young love thwarted by terminal sickness is a film the Japanese industry pumps out about once a week, but the trope does not offend here because it is threaded into a loving tribute to Iwai Shunji. The composition of the shots, from the couple listening to music on the train, to Jimmy shouting to snow-covered mountains, is done with reverence, and with aplomb. Fujii is unashamed in his tribute act and I found myself applauding it. It works so well you get over the flaws such as the one-note support characters.

There is an Iwai-esque visual richness here. Ami's artwork is impressive, and the floating lanterns carrying the wishes of the young lovers are spectacular in the night sky. I implore you to watch it on a big screen.

The romance between Jimmy and Ami is chaste till the last. The will-they-won't-they revolves around no more than holding hands, but when they do, it is cathartic. This is a story with few surprises, but it has a quiet power, and is a minor triumph.

heart-warming coming-of-age movie

[daidai-11043 · 8/10 · 29 July 2024]

The main character, a Taiwanese man, goes to Japan to meet the woman he fell in love with 18 years ago at his karaoke job in Taiwan. In the course of his journey, various events from the past are recounted, leading to the present. The film is a co-production between Japan and Taiwan and is in two languages. At first, I felt that it was a difficult challenge to use both languages as the main characters, but I felt that this added depth to the story. Learning the other's language is a sign of familiarity, which I thought was a rare expression in a film. I will now watch Love Letter directed by Shunji Iwai.

Beautiful cinematography

[jasminn_tan · 7/10 · 4 August 2024]

I am a huge fan of Taiwanese movies and this one did not disappoint. This movie is beautiful and poignant, and even though I could kind of see how it would end from the beginning, it was still done tastefully. Between the flashbacks from 18 years ago and the present time, the movie weaved a touching story about two people who fell in love but weren't destined to be together. Even so, they spent each day appreciating every moment. They lived and learned and although they couldn't love, the feelings had already grown within them. They were young and hopeful, but they were also scared of the unknown and of hurting each other. And just like that, time had slipped by and 18 years had flown by. It left me feeling a little sad honestly. Anyway, the cinematography and colour grading in this movie is excellent and it was a visual feast.

All Memories Lead To You

[soeprijo19 · 9/10 · 3 August 2024]

First of all, you have to be above 35 years old to be able to appreciate this movie. The reference movie for this movie was Love Letter, which was released in 1995. And this movie deals with a lot of memories, early 2000s memories mostly, so it's hard to relate if you're below 35 years old.

The story began with our protagonist, Jimmy and his struggle with his life after he lost the company that he founded when he was a college student with his buddy Aaron. Then we followed Jimmy's journey to find his youth dream girl, Ami, a Japanese girl who once worked together with Jimmy in a karaoke cafe in Tainan, Taiwan.

Oh my, actually at that time I knew how this movie was going to end. But as a hopeless romantic, I still continued to watch this movie until the end. And the last 30 minutes was really a tearjerker.

So if you're a fan of Last Letter, Love Letter, Let Me Eat Your Pancreas and those kind of drama movies, then this definitely a movie you'll need to watch.

Tearjerker 9/10.

This movie touched a cynical Gen-Xer

[lofishman · 10/10 · 3 September 2024]

If you like movies that breathe and take you on a journey, this movie is for you. I really felt like I knew the characters as I watched it due to excellent character development and writing. The cinematography and pacing were excellent as were the performances of everyone involved. I just returned from Taiwan a few weeks ago and after watching this, I suddenly felt a yearning to return because the movie made that place seem like a wonderland. As a guy who is in his fifties, for me 18 X 2 drives home the brevity of human existence and how important it is to savor life and live when you can. Bittersweet, but worth the experience. Watch this with someone you love.