Movies about growing up are usually loud, messy, and full of high-school tropes that feel more like a fever dream than real life. Then there is First of May. Released in 2015, this Taiwanese film—originally titled Wu Yue Yi—doesn’t try to scream for your attention. It just sits there, quietly devastating and beautiful, weaving together two different timelines that feel like they’re bleeding into each other. If you’ve ever looked at an old photo and felt a physical ache for a version of yourself that doesn't exist anymore, you’ll get why this movie sticks to the ribs.
It's a story of echoes.
Directed by Zhou Getai, a man famous for his music videos, the film has this specific visual texture that feels like a memory. It isn’t just a "teen romance." It's a meditation on how the mistakes our parents made end up being the roadmaps for our own lives. Most people who stumble across it on streaming services think it’s going to be a light, breezy romance because of the title. It isn't. It’s heavy. It’s about the 1980s and the 2010s colliding through a single song: Bee Gees’ "First of May."
The Dual Timeline Heart of First of May
The structure is what makes it. Honestly, if this were told chronologically, it might lose that magic. We start with Bai, a teenage girl in present-day Taipei. She’s navigating that weird, stagnant space of modern youth—alienated from her mother, curious about the world, and trying to find a spark. Then we’re yanked back to the 1980s, following her mother, Wang Lei, as a young student.
The 1980s segment is the soul of the film. Richie Jen plays the adult version of the male lead, Lin Ke-ming, and he brings this weary, lived-in sadness to the role that grounds the whole thing. The younger versions of the characters are played by Lyan Cheng and Richie Jen (with different actors for the younger roles, including the standout performance by Lyan Cheng who actually plays both the mother in the past and the daughter in the present).
Wait, let's talk about that casting choice for a second. Having the same actress play the mother as a teen and the daughter in the present is a bold move. It could have been cheesy. Instead, it creates this eerie sense of history repeating itself. You see the same facial expressions, the same hesitation, and you realize that even though decades have passed, the way humans fall in love—and fall apart—hasn't changed at all.
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Why the Bee Gees Matter More Than You Think
Music isn't just background noise in First of May. It's the literal bridge. The song "First of May" by the Bee Gees is the catalyst. It’s the track that young Lin Ke-ming and Wang Lei shared. In the film, the lyrics "Now we are tall, and Christmas trees are small" take on a literal, painful meaning.
Director Zhou Getai spent years directing music videos for Mandopop legends like Jonathan Lee and Fish Leong. You can see that influence in every frame. He knows how to let a shot linger just long enough to make you uncomfortable. He understands that a close-up of a cassette tape or a dusty piano key tells a better story than three pages of dialogue.
The 1980s period aesthetic is spot on. It’s not the neon-soaked, "Stranger Things" version of the 80s we usually get from Western media. This is the 1980s in Taiwan—a time of transition, school uniforms, strict discipline, and the quiet rebellion of Western pop music. It’s stifling and romantic all at once. When the adult Lin Ke-ming receives an email from Bai (posing as her mother), the digital world feels cold compared to the tactile, analog memories of the past. It’s a sharp contrast.
Breaking Down the "First of May" Melancholy
There is a specific kind of sadness in East Asian cinema that doesn't really have a direct translation in English. It's not depression. It's more like a nostalgic longing for something that was never fully realized. This film lives in that space.
- The Adult Regret: Richie Jen’s portrayal of Lin as an adult is a masterclass in "what if." He’s successful but empty.
- The Youthful Spark: The 80s scenes have a golden hue, representing the idealism of youth before life gets its claws into you.
- The Communication Gap: The movie highlights how we have more ways to talk now—emails, IMs, phones—but we’re arguably worse at actually saying anything meaningful than they were with hand-written notes.
Some critics argued the pacing is too slow. Kinda true. If you’re looking for a fast-paced plot where things happen every ten minutes, this isn't your movie. It’s a slow burn. It’s a movie that asks you to sit with the characters in their silence. It’s about the things unsaid. The missed connections are the point.
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The Visual Language of Zhou Getai
You can't talk about First of May without mentioning the cinematography. It’s gorgeous. There’s a scene involving a rainy afternoon and a bicycle that feels like it was ripped straight out of a classic 90s Wong Kar-wai film, yet it feels uniquely Taiwanese.
The film uses color palettes to distinguish the eras without being too "on the nose." The past is warm, slightly overexposed, like an old Polaroid. The present is cooler, sharper, and a bit more sterile. This visual shorthand helps the viewer navigate the jumps in time without getting lost in the narrative weeds. It’s a clever way to handle a non-linear story without needing "1982" flashed across the screen in big block letters every five minutes.
What Most People Miss About the Ending
People often debate the ending of First of May. Without spoiling the specifics, it doesn't give you a neat, Hollywood bow. It’s messy. It’s open-ended. Some find it frustrating, but honestly, it’s the only way the story could have ended truthfully.
The film isn't about the destination. It’s about the realization that our parents were once as vibrant, confused, and heartbroken as we are. When Bai discovers her mother's past, she isn't just learning a secret; she’s seeing her mother as a human being for the first time. That’s a universal experience. We all have that moment where we realize our parents had lives before us, and usually, those lives were full of the same "First of May" longing we feel now.
The film acknowledges that while time moves forward, emotions tend to circle back. We think we're moving in a straight line, but we're really just moving in loops.
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How to Actually Watch First of May Today
Finding the movie can be a bit of a hunt depending on where you live. It had a solid theatrical run in Taiwan and parts of Southeast Asia, but in the West, it’s largely a "hidden gem" on niche streaming platforms or physical media imports.
If you're going to watch it, do yourself a favor:
- Watch it with subtitles, not a dub. The cadence of the Mandarin dialogue is essential to the mood.
- Listen to the Bee Gees track beforehand. Understand the lyrics. It’ll make the callbacks in the film hit ten times harder.
- Pay attention to the background. The production design in the 80s sequences is incredibly dense with period-accurate details that tell their own sub-stories.
First of May stands as a testament to the idea that some stories don't need to be big to be important. It’s a small, intimate film about a song, a girl, and a man who remembered too much. In a world of superhero sequels and high-concept sci-fi, there’s something deeply radical about a movie that just wants to talk about how it felt to be seventeen in 1982.
For those looking to explore the themes of the movie further, the best next step is to look into the "Taiwan New Cinema" movement. While this film is more contemporary, it draws heavily from the emotional realism established by directors like Hou Hsiao-hsien. You might also find it rewarding to research the cultural significance of the 1980s in Taiwan, specifically the lifting of Martial Law in 1987, as this political backdrop adds a layer of "breaking free" to the characters' personal rebellions. Finally, create a playlist of 70s and 80s folk-pop—it's the quickest way to tap into the specific "First of May" frequency the movie operates on.