"Yi Yi"

Wow! What a great movie. This was a great story. A three-hour piece that filled each moment with suspense, sadness or smiles. What was ironic but captivating about the film is that it started with a wedding and ended with a funeral.

The film was released in 2000 and was an instant classic. It was recognized as one of the ten greatest films of the last 20 years, along with Raging Bull, Chunking Express, and Blade Runner etc.

Director Edward Yang received the Best Director award at the Cannes film festival in 2000 for Yi Yi. It was also recognized as one of the best films of 2001 by many film societies and received great reviews by many American publications like Chicago Times, New York Times and News Week.

The film tells the story of a Taiwanese family (The Jiang Family) seen through the eyes of the father NJ played by Nien-Ju Wen, son Yang-Yang played by Jonathan Chang and daughter Ting-Ting played by Kelly Lee. The two children face obstacles in school and with friends. The father is having trouble at work and the mother has left to “find herself”. The family is continuing to deal with financial, emotional and mental stress. NJ is unable to take proper care of his kids because his computer business is failing and he must tend to that. He is sent to Japan for a meeting where he meets his first love. Ting-Ting falls in love with her friend next door's ex-boyfriend and doesn't allow herself to sleep since she blames herself for her granny's awful state.

The film is shot from a voyeur’s position. The viewer never really gets to close to the character. Maybe this was done because of the level of intimacy can best be viewed from a distance. The movie is very consistent with its story and doesn’t wonder of like some movies viewed for this course. Yi Yi is touching film that relates to any family. This is a great movie that I’m happy I got the chance to see. I will defiantly recommend it to a friend.