Rating: 
Summary: Film in the purest form
Review: Once in a while you walk out of the theatre and you find yourself giving a big sigh. When that happens, it's not because you're tired about a movie you just have seen. On the contrary. In my case it means that I just experienced an artform that cannot be compared with any other kind of art. Yi Yi is a good example of this. For those who watch carefully, they will discover that the story of Yi Yi is not more than a saga, perhaps even a soap plot of a ordinary middle class family in Taipei. But those who have patience to go beyond the facade of the ordinary, they will see a movie dealing about individualism, childhood, commitments, second chances, urban loneliness, broken promises, families, despair and death. But Yi Yi also shows us the small qualities of life: humour, laugther, life questions posed by a diligent and intelligent young kid, first love, courage, the meaning of life and the search for happiness. But Yi Yi is told without the explosivity of American Beauty. Instead, we witness (instead of watching passively) most of the narrative through windows and doors. Just as we're the neighbours of the protagonists of this film. Sometimes we will find ourselves shedding a tear. Sometimes we laugh. And that, my friend, is the reality of life. Shame that this one was overlooked by the Academy Award Association. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon couldn't be a match to this one.
Rating:
Summary: A slow-burning masterpiece
Review: Ostensibly, Edward Yang's Yi Yi (A one and a two) is a movie focusing on a family in contemporary Taipei, living through exceptional and unexceptional challenges that any one of us might be confronted with. But what the film really succeeds in capturing through its characters and events is the enormity of human existence; the challenges and rewards of living on this earth. It does so in a slow, penetrating manner that works its magic during the film, but even more so once after the film has ended. The movie is rich with well developed characters and subplots that justify its three hour length. Yet in the course of all the seemingly tumultuous events that take place, little changes in the long term once the credits roll. But then, everything has changed; the movie begins with a wedding, tosses in a birth in the middle, and ends with a funeral. In between all these greater moments are the smaller though no less important things in life that almost every one of us can relate to at some level; love lost, regret, guilt, second chances, self-expression, happiness, sadness. The movies ambitions seem almost epic until you realize that there is nothing 'epic' about this family and its interactions. That is where the magic of this film really lies. Cultural differences don't matter here; you can always find a way to relate to Yang's characters through their common humanity. For many, we see emotional reservation, but Yang is able to expose even these characters through their confessions to their grandmother, who is comatose after a stroke. And then there is Yang Yang, the little boy of the family who is able to expose the nature of truth and exploration in a way only a little boy could. I suppose that the thing that I enjoyed most about this film is that, even after seeing it a few days ago, I grow to appreciate it more, even as I write this review. Yi Yi is just an amazing film, perhaps the best ever made about a family, but to classify it as such is wrong. The movie is really a mirror; it is a beleivable, honest reminder of how life can be wonderful, and a pain, all at the same time.
Rating: 
Summary: As it is
Review: It's rather refreshing to watch a movie these days without resorting to special effects. What a breath of fresh air this movie is by giving us a glimpse of a typical family life in Taipei, Taiwan. After viewing the movie, you might tell yourself that what characters are going through & have gone through are actually not so different from your day to day predicaments. This is life as it is, my friends. Here, NJ, the husband was given a window opportunity to relive his youth & in the end, he discovered that if he were to relive his life again, his life wouldn't change for the better. His wife felt that she lived a Ground Hog's Day. There's a sense of emptiness within her but after coming home from her meditation, she discovered that her life was just as before. The doting daughter lived an idealistic life & she got a rude awakening by befriending her neighbour's daughter & got a reality check by falling in love at a tender age. The grandmother would be the pivot in the movie. She suffered stroke early in the story & all the characters took their turns talking to her, just as Catholics went searching for forgiveness & redemption in the confession box. Then, there was NJ's brother who was a loser, who had relationships all tangled up in loose ends & undoubtedly, causing conflicts between the present wife & the ex. There was also the business dealing between NJ & a Japanese businessman & software programmer by the name of Ota. They emphatised for one another immediately. There were many tender & stolen moments in this movie, where thoughts & emotions were spoken even without usage of words. As always, we saved the best for last, & NJ's younger son who spoke few words emerged to be the wise one among them all. His wisdom was displayed in the pictures that he took. He commented candidly to his dad the reason why he took pictures of people's rear heads was that people weren't able to see half of themselves. He thought that he was doing people a great favour by revealing to them what they weren't able to see. The movie was brought to a satisfied conclusion when he read his thoughts aloud to his grandmother in her funeral why he didn't speak to her when she was unconscious. He reasoned that words needn't be spoken when hearts already knew the answers. A movie that is so simple & yet, so complicated. It's so direct & yet, so subtle. A very well-done movie that's satisfying to watch from beginning till end despite its three hours length. A must-see & highly recommended. Life is as it is. Don't need seeking for enlightenment because life mysteries & answers shall reveal to you in your own time. As it is.
Rating:
Summary: We only see one side of things and people
Review: This Taiwanese film is fascinating for us westerners because of the vision it gives of love and women in Chinese society. Love has a wider meaning than what we generally comprehend with this word. It is not only love for a woman or a man with a sentimental or sexual intention, but it is the basic human dimension of society. This is very true in the revealing dimension the coma of the grand mother takes in the family circle and the impossibility for everyone to speak to that comatose woman in spite of the love the various members do feel for her. The conclusion of the film, the love declaration of the little son, but after the death of the grandmother, is a real illumination about how love is an exchange of experience, and the little boy can feel old because he exchanges his age with his grandmother's and hence regenerates her in her own death. But this love, within a couple, becomes the revealing element of the frustrations and expectations of the woman who is finding her liberation, hence her possible realization as a free being in this love relation. On the side of the boy or man, there is a fear, the fear to be in a way enslaved, reduced to a state of non-liberty by this very love. And yet the father discovers through the meeting of an old girl-friend of his he ran away from not to become the slave of her willfulness that he did what she wanted him to do which became the reason of his flight. Hence love becomes a mirror in which there is a perfect exchange of motivations and visions : she sees him like this and this becomes his perspective, and vice versa. This leads us to the conclusion that real love is a double mirror in which each lover falls mutually and simultaneously. This double mirror is both fascinating and disturbing. Are we living in a gallery of mirrors where the mirrors are our own neighbors for whom we are one mirror among others ? And this is amplified by the little boy who is obsessed by the fact that we can only see one side of a person at the time and never see the other side at the same time. We are both witnesses and blind people since we can both see and not see at the same time. In, other words seeing something means not seeing something else. This entertwining of vision and blindness, along with mirror ghosts that are what we see brings us to a really Chinese experience : remember the proverb about a finger showing the moon and what an idiot will do : look at the finger and miss the moon. But is the one who sees the moon and misses the finger more intelligent ? Dr Jacques COULARDEAU
Rating: 
Summary: Ai-Yi Yi!
Review: The problem with Yi Yi is not with the director or the cast -- it's the fact that the story is not truthful enough to make this style of film work. To present a work that goes on for almost 3 hours, and never see one truthful moment until the end -- which turned out to be pure cliche, by the way -- was excruciating. Yet the actors did a tremendous job with what they had. And, The film calls to mind Kieslowski as the theme is subtly reflected in the film technique as well as dialogue. Unfortunately the good elements are wasted with all of the over-long scenes where the characters are not allowed to take their actions through to their logical conclusion. Perhaps if they did, Mr. Yang's film would have been too controversial. Maybe this film is an example of where the Chinese culture is right now, as it decides what to cast off as this ancient society transforms into its next age of growth.
Rating:
Summary: one by ed yang
Review: ~I can't write much about the film that others haven't. Yi Yi has been bemoaned as Yang's concession to mainstream audiences (after a career of making formally rigorous, "difficult" works), though that assumes that an artist should spend his career in one mode. The softening of Yang's style - which actually began with his two "comedies" in the mid-90s - is not necessarily a bad thing. Yang's formally challenging work reached its apex with the brilliant "A Brighter Summer Day." "Yi~~ Yi" is an epic-length work of an altogether different kind - not a "selling out" per se, but the work of someone who has perhaps come to see the world in a less despairing light (though "Yi Yi" certainly contains much sadness and disappointment). It is a brilliant film and justly acclaimed, and unlike "Brighter Day," it's a film I would recommend to those who don't necessarily go in for "demanding" or "arty" fare despite its runtime. The Fox Lorber DVD is a shame, as~~ has been noted several times, though its value lies in the director's commentary (ah, the wonderful thing about laserdiscs and DVDs: the possibility of capturing the words of the artist) rather than the poor presentation. I recommend people who really love this movie to SEEK OUT THE KOREAN DVD, which is easily found on any websites that specialize in Asian imports. It is a far superior transfer to the U.S. release and also, from what I understand, a step up on the Hong Kong disc.~
Rating: 
Summary: Great movie, bad DVD
Review: This is 5 star movie but this particular transfer is really terrible. It's worse than a VCD. I am so dissappointed with it that I have to give it away immediately after I watched it. If you wanna own this movie, buy the the Hong Kong release by Winson at 25% the Fox Lorber price and get a considerably better transfer in letterbox format with English subtitles. Having said the above, I wish to commend Fox Lorber for their efforts in making such excellent movies available for international audiences. They must however improve on their transfers which those movies deserve.
Rating:
Summary: a film about nothing and everything
Review: What do you expect to see in a movie? As a movie made by Taiwanese, who are influenced by both the traditional Chinese culture and modern Western civilization, Yi Yi is not an ordinary one. It is a film about nothing since you cannot even tell what exactly the story is in a few words. It is, however, also a movie about everything of human life because it does touch many aspects of our experience: the attitude toward the career, fortune, family, lover and the ultimate faith of the life. Yi Yi explores the questions you and I might encounter in our daily life, but it also leaves no simple, miracle solution to them, just like that there is no easy answer to the real problem in this real world. If you think a movie should tell a simple story which leads to a sure answer, you probably will not like Yi Yi. If you expect to see an exotic oriental fantasy, you definitely will feel bored and hate it. On the other hand, if you appreciate that a film merely depicts the happiness and the sadness from the routin life and catches the subtle emotions, you should see this one. You might also feel surprised about the similarity between a modern Asian city and the western world. Probably you had better not raise your expectation too high before you see it, but you might feel satisfied with how richness Yi Yi could bring to you at the end.
Rating:
Summary: what is gonna happen is gonna happen
Review: Yi yi is a very good family drama which is made in Taiwan.
First of all, a Taiwanese film needs a patience. In yi yi however you really need it because it is 3 hours long and it is a drama movie. But by no means it is a boring movie. When you look at it deeply, it is actually very very good and easily competes with films like "happiness". Characters are like real, next door people and issues are common things which we always witness in real life. Every character has its own story with sub stories but connected to central story which strangely is not as diverse. Location is Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan and an important city in asian business world. Movie starts with a family wedding as well as the grandmother ending up in coma.
Father of the house is troubled with worsening business and dishonest business life. He meets his ex lover after 30 years and starts to questions his life and especially his past. His wife leaves for mountain for asking gods help for her mother in coma.His Causin has financial problems and newly married .His daughter is a lonely teenager who starts to feel her adolesence coming up to her and his son is an intelligent cute boy with the quest of finding the reality. Neighbours, ex lovers , friends, business partners are all parts of this film. Like a huge puzzle they are all fit in and make this movie worth watching.
Director questions us with our obsession of loosing "past chances". His characters think about their lifes and past choices but in the end , answer comes as nothing much changes as long as we are the same people.What is gonna happen is gonna happen he says with the camera. He also questions the reality in our lives, how we actually look and how we feel. His criticisms on our modern life is shown in aspects like religion ,sex,education,corrupt dealings in business etc with excellent but short sequences.Also the lives of the young ones are similar to the past experiences of the elder. Father's first date with his ex lover has many similar things with her daughters first date . Interestingly, Grandma is the central character here since she is in coma and every member of the family comes and talks to her about their troubles,mistakes and everyday life.
Stories and incidents are gathered in her. She cant reply but hear, making members of the family to confess and story pieces to come together. Ýncidents and stories start with her loss of consciessness and finish with her. She acts as a kind of buddha in the house, probably not given enough attention when she was well.
Overall Yi yi is a very good film about life,relationships,past and inner feelings. It is definitely not a soap opera. Rather, a very good as well as a realistic family drama without strange unearthly characters and miraculous happenings as well as unnecessary dirty sex which we witness in some indie movies.
This is actually our lives on screen. Watch it and you will find many similar things in your life.
Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece
Review: I was flipping through the channels one lonely winter day looking for something good to watch. I have around 100 movie channels and ther was still nothing. However, I came across a movie called Yi Yi. It looked mildly interesting so I decided to check it out. For the next three hours, I was hooked. This movie was great. I'm really not into dramas, but this one (and A Beautiful Mind) totally changed my outlook. Buy this movie, NOW!
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