Focusing on a typical family--parents, two children, and an elderly grandmother--living in a small apartment in Taipei, YI YI (A ONE AND A TWO) is about the patterns of daily life. It includes a wedding, a funeral, a first date, a last date, a birth, and a death. The film follows each member of the Jian family carefully, giving .. Read more
| Starring | Elaine Jin, Nien-Jen Wu, Issey Ogata, Kelly Lee |
|---|---|
| Director | Edward Yang |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
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Focusing on a typical family--parents, two children, and an elderly grandmother--living in a small apartment in Taipei, YI YI (A ONE AND A TWO) is about the patterns of daily life. It includes a wedding, a funeral, a first date, a last date, a birth, and a death. The film follows each member of the Jian family carefully, giving each one equal time, completely developing each character. NJ (Wu Nienjen), the father of the family, struggles with a dead-end job at a technology firm while reexamining his marriage when he meets his high school sweetheart, Sherry (Ke Suyun), after 30 years. NJ's teenage daughter, Ting-Ting (Kelly Lee), has a selfless demeanor and a naive interest in everything, which diffuses the complexity of her high school life. Her little brother, Yang-Yang (Jonathan Chang), is an adorable five-year-old troublemaker who's in love with a pesky girl in his class. And Yang-Yang's mother, Min-Min (Elaine Jin), grieves for her dying mother (Tang Runyun) while coping with her own middle age in a rapidly maturing family.
Edward Yang, director of 1991's A BRIGHTER SUMMER DAY, presents a careful, direct, meticulously photographed film with YI YI. Brassy shots of Taipei reflected in the windows of a moving car are offset with slow choreographed sequences using the streetlights to narrate little moral tales. Perhaps the most powerful gem in this film is the magical character of Mr. Ota (Issey Ogata), NJ's Japanese business associate, whose optimistic life perspective will inspire and delight YI YI's viewers.
| Starring | Elaine Jin, Nien-Jen Wu, Issey Ogata, Kelly Lee, Jonathan Chang, Hsi-Sheng Chen, Shu-shen Hsiao, Shu-Yuan Hsu, Adrian Lin, Ke Suyun, Ru-Yun Tang, Michael Tao, Hsin-Yi Tseng, Pang Chang Yu |
|---|---|
| Director | Edward Yang |
| Studio | ICA PROJECTS LTD. |
| Run time | DVD: 2 hrs 53 mins |
| Certificate |  |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
| Language | DVD: Mandarin |
| Subtitles | DVD: English |
| Released | Production year: 2000 To Rent: DVD: not available |
A cool dissection of three generations of a family, at different but similar points in their trajectories, this wry, detailed narrative, circling at a distance around its protagonists, provides many pleasures, as well as insights into the human condition
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Find out what the back of your head looks like!
I found it probably the best film of 2002. A sprawling family saga, it's one of those "all human life is there" films which like "Les Enfants... read more »
[Highly rated reviewer]
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interesting
the plot revolves around a family and the different lives of each member. generally keeps the viewer interested although in some parts, it moves really slowly... read more »
- 1
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Oh dear, what a mess!
...and the reviews were so good! So it was deeply disappointing to find such a disjointed, long-winded and indeed boring offering. Long-held shots ... read more »
- 3
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Just too long
This movie is like a long version of 'Lost in translation', but without Bill Murray. A movie about characters with boring lives. I gave it a go, watched... read more »
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