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Summary: Soap Opera waste of my time
Review: I saw this film at the theatre and it is simply the worst Chinese movie I have ever seen. It is a dull soap opera, comparable to the dull week-day soap operas on TV. I recommend you rent before you buy, as it is simply a waste of time and money.
Rating:
Summary: Cute but tiresome
Review: Had guests over (two of whom spoke Chinese) and we watched this movie based on all of these glowing reviews. We lasted through a couple of hours until finally shutting the movie off. There are perhaps two poignant moments, one somewhat funny, one awkward amidst a general rambling of people in various relationships, none of which was interesting enough to make a group of people watch to the end... It's a boring movie.
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Summary: asian goes new york
Review: This is a wonderful film, better than most, but overrated, because most films made in East Asia are just not this good. If you like Woody Allen dramas, you'll love this film. If you like Julia Roberts films, you won't like this film. It's nice to see that the distinction is not just an internal Western snobbery, but a universal truth.
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Summary: Life
Review: This is life. If we humans had only three hours to explain aliens what it meant to be human, this is the film to show them. This movie touches many of life's issues, and manages to let the characters in it express all the different emotions in life. It's about an ordinary Taiwanese family where each of the family members is about to face descisions and grand feelings of sorts, for the first time. Well you can say alot about this film, but I'll make it short and just recommend this movie to everyone that love life, because this is life.
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Summary: "Yi Yi": A Film for the Discriminating Viewer
Review: "Yi Yi" is an enthralling, complex, beautifully made film about a modern family in crisis. Since it is subtitled as well as slow-paced, it is emphatically not for Yahoos!
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Summary: Fox Lorber's DVD is not even worth buying
Review: Although Edward Yang's "Yi-yi" is a great film, Fox Lorber's DVD release is a disservice to the film. I had heard rumors that the DVD was substandard, but I so wanted to see the film again that I ordered it. Unfortunately everything I had heard was true. The transfer is blurry throughout, and on every near-horizontal surface there is distracting shimmering. It is so bad that you can even see foreground objects moving against the background, when they shouldn't, which is indicative of substandard encoding. AVOID THIS DVD AT ALL COSTS!
Rating:
Summary: Good flick: A slice of Taiwan life for foreigner
Review: I will not deny that that this is groundbreaking work from Taiwan. Compare to other Taiwan films it is almost lightyears apart.However, for someone who comes from Taiwan this film is full a critism of Taiwan society. Loose sexual moral, Software Copyright infringement, the death of the housewife role in modern society, the rise of con artist and rise in violent crimes are all touch upon. The topics are ripped from the headlines of the Taiwan newspapers. Not to mention the films plays on the topic of what it means to be Taiwanese. Aside from the social implications of the film to people from Taiwan, it is a pretty good flick. I really enjoyed the parrallel used portray the stages of romance using various generations of the family during the middle of the film. Because it is a 3 hour movie, the viewer can't help to wonder what is the central theme. Unfortunately, it is not that simple. Because it film is struggling with what it means to be a modern Taiwanese these days, which is also not that simple. Thus, it attempt to draw some answers by touching on a variety of subjects though it characters. In the end you are either impressed with the how realistic the slice of life in Taiwan is presented to the viewer, or you are dissappointed that the film is unable to provide a definitive answer to the questions it raises.
Rating:
Summary: A slice of Taiwanese life.
Review: Yi Yi is not made in the mold of traditional Hollywood way of filmmaking. Whereas the narration of most Hollywood movies will try to engage the viewers and break down the barrier between the audience and the movie screen, Yi Yi upholds that barrier and reminds the audience that they are a separate entity altogether. This is clear from the choice of the long shots and often from outside of the characters' space altogether (such as outside looking in shots through the window of the apartment and the train). Often the characters are speaking when the camera is not even directed at them. Close-up shots are few and far in between. As a result, it produces an aura of voyeurism, that we are illicitly observing other people. However, the surprising part is that the story we witness is far from the fantastic, instead they could be a story of any Taiwanese family or any family in general. The film basically tells a story about a family in crisis. The grandmother is lying in a coma. The mother is going through a mental breakdown that would land her temporarily in an asylum. The father is having a second thought on the marriage as an old flame suddenly reappears in his life. The daughter is having an infatuation for her neighbor's boyfriend. And the list continues. The problems might look extraordinary as they are packed into a three hour long movie (which a lot of people have complained that it is far too long), however, each individual problem might be one that your average neighbor is currently facing. The only anomaly is perhaps a murder that takes place in the course of the movie. The murderer makes a ironic comment before the murder takes place: why is it that although we might have never murdered anybody, we know what it feels like to commit a murder from watching movies. This comment is consistent with the overall tone of the film that discourages the audience to take an active part in the film. We are frequently reminded that there is still that partition between the reel and reality. Overall, I am impressed by the visual style employed here. It is certainly a breath of fresh air in Asian cinema. If there is any qualm about this film is the onslaught of new problems that surface continously. In the end, there so many problems abound that the interesting part, how the characters deal with them are not adequately developed. A masterpiece it is not, however, it is a gem that many will remember for a long time.
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Summary: Yang's film is excellent, but it would be best seen on film
Review: Ed Yang's Yi Yi (A One and a Two) is an excellent family drama (certainly miles ahead of such films as "Tortilla Soup" or "The Joy Luck Club") but it's a three hours long, and not quite as profound as it thinks it is. Most of the film's annoying sermonizing comes from a young boy character. He is wise beyond his years to the point that his character is not at all believeable. Once you get past that character (who is only one of about a dozen well-drawn characters in the ensemble) the film has a great deal to offer. The film's pacing is not really that leisurely, and the time spent watching it isn't wasted time. The director opts to direct most scenes with a nearly static camera. Long takes are the norm. This is fine, but it may require an initial stylistic adjustment for some (I am used to watching films by Carl Dreyer and Hou Hsiao-Hsien so I have a temperment for this sort of work). The film will probably surprise you with its accessibility, however. The lives of the people in Taiwan are not very different from the lives of Americans. The humor and drama on display is universal. The film doesn't feel foreign at all. My main reservation would be that the film's transfer to DVD somewhat reduces the film's impact. The still camera and relative lack of closeups means some of the details and emotions of the actors might be difficult to see depending on your television. In any case, the film's reccomended...
Rating:
Summary: Perhaps the best Taiwanese movie ever made...
Review: There is not too much more that I can say about "Yi Yi" that other reviewers have not already mentioned. From a cinematography and story point of view, "Yi Yi" is an enriching movie that continues to reward with new insights after repeated viewings. As other reiviewers have noted, the story is about a typical family in Taipei going through their quotidian struggles, struggles which we all universally face: the grandmother becoming sick and then dying, the daughter's first experiences with love, the uncle's scandalous marriage, etc. But I think these other reviewers by stressing so much how the plot is universal also ignore the many different ways in which "Yi Yi" is very particularly Taiwanese. This movie is as much about "What does it mean to be Taiwanese?" as it is about "What does it mean to be human?" Taiwan, like Japan or South Korea, has enjoyed incredibly fast economic growth in the post-WWII era. Just compare "Yi Yi," which was made in 2000, with Hou Hsiao-Hsien's "Dust in the Wind," another important Taiwanese film that was made in the mid 80's. In the former movie, the characters live in a luxury apartment, work for software companies, and drive BMWs; in the latter movie, the characters live in cramped conditions, work in clothing sweat shops, and can only afford cheap motorpeds. While Taiwan has gained a lot materially, this growth has in some ways impoverished them spiritually and emotionally as many of their social customs have eroded away. Many of the adult characters seem lost in this new world. To deal with this, some characters, blindly cling to old traditions in the face of modernity, like the uncle who is obsessed with picking the astrologically correct name for his son or the father and his high-school sweetheart, who speak to each other in the Taiwanese dialect, even as standard Mandarin replaces the local dialect (and English becomes the language of business). Other characters, like the mother, cannot deal with this new modern way of life and quite literally have a psychological break down because of the spiritual emptiness of their life. "Yi Yi" is filled with many scenes where you can see traditional customs in flux. Some customs have morphed beyond recognition (e.g. the role of women has changed. Early on there's a wonderful scene with the the impotent uncle discussing finances with his original girlfriend, who is clearly in charge). Other customs still persisntly cling (e.g. the excessive drinking at wedding festivals). Taiwanese identity has become especially fragile not only because of the influence of globalization (economic growth and Western influences ranging from McDonald's to Hollywood), but also because of the political and economic emergence of mainland China. As the mainland becomes more powerful, the Taiwanese have felt that they are being bullied around. The youngest son, whom you see carrying the Taiwanese flag a lot, is an almost incendiary political symbol. You see him being constantly bullied by his older schoolmates and teachers; he clearly represents Taiwan and how they are snubbed and bullied around in world affairs. There are also references to the whole Wen Ho Lee debacle, another Taiwanese person who was bullied around (this time by the FBI). Besides these themes, Edward Yang's understated cinematography is perhaps the most overlooked part of this movie. There are no MTV-style, choppy, in-your-face shots. Rather, Yang seems influenced by Kiarostami. Many shots are done through windows or in the reflection of mirrors; what you can see directly, indirectly, or not all is carefully considered in each shot. While for the most part the shots are subtle, there are also some moments of absolute jaw-dropping brilliance. In one shot, you hear a voice in the background talk about the miracles of life while on the screen you see the uncle's pregnant wife having an ultrasound. Slowly you realize that the voice isn't talking about the pregnant wife, but rather a computer game, and suddenly the shot cuts to a board meeting at the software company. To some this style may make this movie rather slow, but to me it was refreshing to see the director allow each character to retain their dignity. When some traumatic event happens, the camera doesn't zoom in instantly to their tear-stained faces and then instantly cut away to something else, but rather the shot gives the character (and thus the viewer) the space and time to absorb and reflect on what has happened. Nowadays, you rarely see movies nowadays that do not exploit the dignity of the characters in a mudlin attempt to push your emotional buttons. (I must note that I'm a bit disappointed with the quality of the DVD transfer: the characters are sometimes a little blurry because the shots are so faraway.) Overall, a movie I highly recommend purchasing.
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