Sightlines · reception

How Man in Love was received

2021 · Yin Chen-hao · Man in Love on Sightlines

The arc

A pandemic-era phenomenon at home — it held the #1 spot at the Taiwan box office for three straight weeks and became the biggest domestic hit of 2021 — then found a second, international life as a Netflix weepie that ambushed unsuspecting viewers abroad.

What’s debated

The perennial fight is remake vs. original: does it improve on the 2014 Korean film it officially remakes, or just soften it — and is the third act earned heartbreak or shameless tearjerking?

Its footprint

In Taiwan it became shorthand for the 'bring the whole tissue box' movie — the film everyone dared each other to watch without crying — and it helped cement Roy Chiu's leading-man renaissance.

Where it stands

A mainstream Taiwanese crowd-pleaser rather than cinephile canon: the entry-level 'cry-at-a-Taiwanese-movie' pick on Letterboxd rather than a critics' darling.

Did you know? It's an official remake of the 2014 South Korean film of the same name, and Roy Chiu's turn as the gangly debt collector won him Best Leading Actor at the 23rd Taipei Film Awards, while first-timer Yin Chen-hao landed a Best New Director nomination at the Golden Horse Awards.