Master Taiwanese director Edward Yang spins this intricate and complex yarn about life's everyday crises. The film focuses on N.J. Jian (Wu Nien-Jen, a noted writer/director in his own right); his wife, Min-Min (Elaine Jin); and their two children, teenager Ting-Ting (Kelly Lee) and young Yang-Yang (Jonathan Chang). Their middle-class existence seems stable and secure until a series of incidents throws all of their lives out of kilter. The misfortunes start at the wedding of Min-Min's
ne'er-do-well brother, Ah-Di (Chen Xisheng), when his jilted ex-girlfriend Yun-Yun (Tseng Hsin-yi) bursts into the proceedings and lambastes the bride. Upset by the ruckus and feeling unwell, Min-Min's mother goes home early only to suffer a stroke and slip into a coma. After the wedding, N.J. runs into his first love, Sherry (Ke Suyun), who is married to a rich American. This chance encounter shakes N.J. to his very foundations, forcing him to reevaluate his life. At the same time, N.J.'s computer company deliberates on whether or not to collaborate with a renowned Japanese games designer, Ota (Issey Ogata), sending N.J. to Japan to negotiate a contract. Confronted by her mother's coma, Min-Min also takes stock of her life and finds it lacking. On the brink of a nervous breakdown, she suddenly joins a religious retreat. In Japan, N.J. warms to his potential business partner Ota, spending long evenings discussing life and love in hip Tokyo jazz clubs. There, N.J. also meets up with Sherry; they relive old memories and flirt with infidelity. At the same, Ting-Ting, who quietly blames herself for her grandmother's coma, learns her first hard lessons about love, while Yang-Yang causes trouble at school and wrestles with the truths of the adult world. This film won the Golden Palm for Best Direction at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival and was an official selection for the 2000 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
Yi Yi remains a fitting cinematic epitaph to the graceful canon of the brilliant Taiwanese filmmaker Edward Yang, who before his death in 2007, was the film world's preeminent observer of human complexity.
Blending the Coen Brothers' karmic rubicon with Robert Altman's ensemble heart, "Yi Yi" scratches the identifiable itch to reach out for what we've loved, set free and had come back, perhaps still not meant to be: jobs, lovers, freedoms, opportunities.
One of the best films of the decade, Yi Yi, Edward Yang's most accessible (and very last) film is a fluent, charming and precise family portrait that celebrates ordinary life with all its joys and chaos.
The final moments left me thunderstruck, as deeply moved as I've ever been by a film. Yi Yi accumulates moments of truth and insight until it glows with importance.
'With numerous plotlines that move from middle-aged longing and teen romance to cutthroat business, Yang has created a deeply moving examination of a home in turmoil.'
I was going to state that this is a melodrama of epic proportions but thinking about it its really not a melodrama at all. It is epic though and not just because it's 3 hours long, but because it fits all aspects of life into such a short amount of time so delicately you could be forgiven for not realising how much
you've actually witnessed. Nearly every aspect of life is covered, it's never preachy or convoluted or contrived though, the attention to detail is very through too, it's a brilliantly observed slice of life. The conclusion made by the little boy through his photographs is cinema gold and sums up the film perfectly. This is a real joy to watch, make sure you're not interrupted for 3 three hours and indulge yourself, you won't regret it!
Much much duller than I had anticipated but strangely, thoroughly watchable. Everything hits you later, in your bed, hours after you finish the film. Its premise is extremely simple but it's a very portrait of a family, their neighbors, and their loves.
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