A Masterpiece

Few films have explored family relationships in such a tender, subtle and amusing way as Edward Yang's 'A One and a Two'. Following the troubles facing a Chinese family over a few weeks the film effortlessly draws the viewer into each character's own mini-drama.

NJ is a businessman whose wife Min-Min has gone away to cope with her mother's stroke. NJ sees this as an opportunity to inject some spark into his life and tentatively rekindles a 30 year old affair with his first love. NJ's daughter Ting-Ting is also experiencing the first stirrings of love and his 8 year old son Yang-Yang is simply curious about the whole confusing business of life.

This moving and witty film is totally compelling throughout thanks to the uniformly excellent cast and Yang's deceptively simple screenplay. He develops each character with a sure guiding hand and nothing here feels forced. In terms of tone and style it recalls Ozu's magnificent 'Tokyo Story'(1953) and while it may not be on the same level as that classic, it's still a masterpiece in it's own right. Just beautiful.