Director:
Edward Yang
Country: Taiwan
Cast: Jonathan Chang (Yang-Yang), Yupang Chang (Fatty), Chen
Xisheng (A-Di), Elaine Jin (Min-Min), Ke Suyun (Sherry Chang-Breitner),
Kelly Lee (Ting-Ting), Adrian Lin (Lili), Issei Ogata (Mr.
Ota), Tang Ruyun (Grandma), Michael Tao (Da-Da), Wu Nienjen
(NJ Jian), Xiao Shushen (Xiao
Yan), Xu Shuyuan (Lili's Mother) and Zeng Xinyi (Yun-Yun).
"Yi Yi" literally means, "One One". The
Chinese character for "yi", or "one",
is a simple horizontal dash. If another "yi" is
placed below the first, this transforms the character's meaning
to represent "two". Through a simple action, a multiplicity
of meaning arises, much like this simple film, which manages
to convey a multitude of meanings and emotions, without resorting
to heavy-handed manipulation or action.
"Yi
Yi" does not actually contain a plot so much as it is
an observation of life. It is a depiction of an ordinary Taiwanese
family undergoing several crises. The father (NJ), struggles
to maintain a sinking computer company while dealing with
the re-appearance of his first true love after almost 30 years.
The mother (Min-Min) falls into a depressive mood after her
elderly mother's stroke (which leaves her in a coma) and disappears
to a religious retreat. Her inept brother, a gullible and
boastful man, marries his visibly pregnant wife while his
ex-fiance turns up at every festive occasion to sow discord
and trouble among his friends and new in-laws. The teenage
daughter (Ting-Ting) struggles with first love and guilt,
that she may have caused her grandmother's stroke. The youngest
child, an 8 year old (Yang-Yang), is a reflective precocious
boy who deals with just about everything life has got to throw
at him with an unexpected depth of philosophical insight.
You may think this sounds like a pretty depressive film, but
it filled with gentle humour - family disagreements comically
degenerate into a shouting match and the antics of Yang-Yang
delights with his honesty and artlessness. Each member of
the family is richly detailed, and though they are perfectly
ordinary, it is this quality that endears them to us, because
we can identify with all their trials and tribulations. We
know too well what we see, and we laugh because of it. The
characters are never judged, but merely observed, and we cannot
help but care and empathise for them, even if sometimes we
may become exasperated with their silliness.
Edward
Yang's direction is slow and meditative, slowly unfurling
scenes one by one. There is a clever sequence where the daughter
and son unwittingly act out their father's memories of love
and romance. Often the camera lingers, some thing that might
irritate those who would have already become impatient with
the film's epic length (just short of three hours). Wu Nienjen's
comic expressions of stoic resignation to events happening
around him suits his role as a besieged man. Issei Ogata,
as the businessman NJ was sent to recruit, fleshes out his
cameo role as the unexpected mentor who gives NJ a sense of
direction. First time actor Yang-Yang charms with his matter-of-factness
and simplicity. In fact, the cast apparently was made up of
non-actors, something which is risky at the best of times
but which works to add to the film's charm.
This
film is more than a soap opera. As mentioned before, its simpleness
covers a thoughtfulness that often surprises. Perhaps there
is nothing new to life, for as NJ tells his wife, even if
he had a chance to do it all again, the result would probably
have been the same, an oddly uplifting statement. We only
see half the truth throughout our entire lives, suggests Yang-Yang,
who may be a child representation of Edward Yang himself,
and like his diminutive alter ego, seeks to reveal the truth
to others through his chosen medium of film. This film is
definitely not for anyone, especially not those who prefers
being distracted by explosions, flashing lights, bared flesh
and single-layered plotlines. I had some trepidation when
going to watch this movie because I feared it was going to
a buttock-destroying ordeal. The fact that the blurb called
this a Taiwanese film about family conjured up memories of
the overwrought melodramatic histrionic soap operas that populated
television back in my childhood days which were more hysterically
funny than moving. But I was very surprised and delightfully
so. As Fatty states, movies expand our lives, making us live
three times more of a lifetime. It is certainly true for this
film, but for all the right reasons.
Eden
Law
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