Completing the List: 'Yi Yi'

Edward Yang's final film is a stunning work examining a year in the life of a family in Taipei.

Yang-Yang (Jonathan Chang) attends his uncle’s wedding in Yi Yi | Image via Janus Films

Last week, The New York Times released its list: “The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century.” I was surprised to find that of the 100 movies, I had seen all but four. Perhaps I shouldn’t be so stunned considering I’ve been reviewing movies in some capacity since 2002 and made it a point to see as much as I could, but for comparison, when Sight & Sound released its list of the Top 100 films of All Time a couple years ago, I had only seen a little over half. That’s a list I’m still working through, but having only four films to go on the NYT’s list, I figured that was a manageable goal in a short period.

Over the next four weeks, I’ll write about the four films on the list I haven’t seen in the order they were released. If you follow me on Instagram, you may have already spotted what those four movies were. If not, then buckle up for four foreign-language movies I didn’t see this century.

The first up is also the longest: Edward Yang’s 173-minute Yi Yi (subtitled “A One and a Two”). I first became aware of this movie back when it was released, and I saw Roger Ebert rave about it on an episode of Ebert & Roeper in 2000. The simple title stuck in my mind, and the more I heard about people raving regarding Yang’s whole body of work, it remained a film I wanted to see…assuming I could make myself sit down for a three-hour character drama. I don’t know why I found the runtime so daunting when I’ve watched The Lord of the Rings movies multiple times, or don’t mind settling in for whatever new epic Martin Scorsese has on tap. Perhaps I was dissuaded by the historical or cultural barriers I presumed would be inherent in any foreign-language film.

I shouldn’t have worried. While there are certainly elements of Yi Yi that feel specific to Taiwanese life at the turn of the century, the broader canvas of the film works beautifully to explore universal themes of human connection and self-interrogation. The movie focuses on a year in the life of a middle-class family in Taipei, the Jians, and examines how their lives intersect and impact those around them. The father, NJ (Wu Nien-jen), feels bored and stymied at his flailing company, and rekindles a relationship with his first love. His teenage daughter Ting-Ting (Kelly Lee) envies the young romance of her friend and neighbor Lili (Adrian Lin). His 8-year-old son, Yang-Yang (Jonathan Chang), picks up photography as a hobby and a way to try and understand the adults around him.

These are only a few of the storylines running through Yi Yi, but they serve as strong examples of how Yang never reaches for the sensational in his storytelling, but rather finds the complexities and nuances of modern life. Moreover, Yang is sharp enough to understand that life is not one thing. There are dramatic moments, but there are just as easily moments of comedy and warmth. Misunderstanding can be tragic and heartfelt, but it can also be hilarious, as is the case when Yang-Yang’s mean-spirited teacher thinks he’s caught his pupil with a condom on his person, only to be humiliated in front of the class when Yang-Yang pulls out an ordinary balloon. Every moment in Yi Yi across its three-hour runtime feels earned, honest, and real.

The aristry comes from how Yang seeks to imbue every frame with as much meaning as possible, not through overwrought “style,” that seeks to make the director the star, but through thoughtful construction of the images. Yang pulls a page from director Yasujirō Ozu, the legendary Japanese helmer behind such classics as Tokyo Story and Late Spring. Like Ozu, Yang crafts immaculate compositions that speak volumes about the characters’ emotional state as well as the larger themes. For example, take this shot: