MORE THAN BLUE (比悲伤更悲伤的故事) (2018)

Genre: Romance
Director: Gavin Lin
Cast: Jasper Liu, Chen Yi Han, Bryan Chang, Annie Chen
Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Coarse Language)
Released By: mm2 Entertainment
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 13 December 2018

Synopsis: Zhang Zhekai, also known as K, is a hardworking employee at a records company. All that comes to a standstill when he is diagnosed with terminal leukemia. But he’s more concerned about Song Yuanyuan, a lyricist also known as Cream. They met in high school at age 16, seeking solace in each other and growing closer, Cream eventually moving into K’s home. With his illness, K dares not confess his love for Cream. Before his time runs out, he wants to make sure she has settled down and is happy.

Movie Review:

More Than Blue is a Taiwanese remake of a South Korean romantic drama movie with the same name. The story is about a terminally ill man (Zhang Zhekai, also known as K) who tries to find a longlife companion for his highschool sweetheart (Song Yuanyuan, also known as Cream). Because he knows he has a time limit, he could not bear to watch her suffer while he slowly dies away.

K and Cream have an odd affinity because they both lost their families at about the same time. K’s dark personality is a stark contrast to Cream’s bright personality, but they managed to hit it off. Their lives got intertwined even more deeply when Cream decided to move in with K during high school for companionship. Their relationship remains platonic even after a decade, as K knows he could not stay by Cream’s side forever. Although he clearly loves her in a way more than friends, Cream’s personality also didn’t pressure him to give an answer. When K was diagnosed with last stage of terminal leukemia, he begins to gear up the search for someone in place of him to be Cream’s family. 

With a melodramatic and heart wrenching story like this, it’s no wonder the 2009 Korean original was well received. The remake of this film was highly anticipated, and got screened at this year’s 23rd Busan International Film Festival where the tickets got sold out in just 5 minutes! The Taiwanese film also received warm response in its domestic market, where it broke the NTD$100 million mark in 9 days, breaking the record of hit Taiwanese Film Our Times (2015, also known as Wo De Shao Nü Shi Dai). It became the highest grossing Taiwanese film in 2018. 

The success of the movie did not lie just on the story alone; the cast did justice to it as well. Ivy Chen, who played the role of Cream, charmed with her warm personality and put on a convincing act which will move you. Jasper Liu, who played the role of K, maneuvered well through K’s ups and downs in emotions despite a supposedly stoic character. Kudos to Bryan Chang as well, who played the supporting male role, who was crucial in holding together the story. Director Gavin Lin’s style of storytelling also complimented the entire production of the movie. The movie’s pace was just right, and the narrative’s plot twists did not come off as overly cliched. In fact, it hits you at all the right spots you’d expect a melodramatic movie would do. 

While the ending is of the movie is somewhat predictable (and unpopular), you would have finished a pack of tissues by the end of it. The bond that’s portrayed transcends romance; it’s more like a family-like lifelong companionship. That’s  probably why it tugs the heartstrings more, because the loss feels more like an ominous void that can never be replaced. the end of it. The bond that’s portrayed transcends romance; it’s more like a family-like lifelong companionship. That’s probably why it tugs the heartstrings more, because the loss feels more like an ominous void that can never be replaced. 

Movie Rating:

(Get ready your Kleenex, lots of it)

Review by Tho Shu Ling