YI YI
(A One And A Two)
2000

February 3, 2001

Towne Theater

-->Directed by Edward Yang
-->N.J.....Nien-Jen Wu
-->Min-Min.....Elaine Jin
-->Ota.....Issey Ogata
-->Ting-Ting.....Kelly Lee
-->Yang-Yang.....Jonathan Chang
-->Ah-Di.....Hsi-Sheng Chen

An extended family in China goes through death, birth, first love, and second chances.

In nearly three hours, we are taken into a family and introduced to each member in great detail. The pace is slow, the photography beautiful, and the individual stories both exciting and heartbreaking. There are weddings, funerals, first dates, first crushes, and long ago lovers never forgotten. There are shots that last well longer than we as an audience are used to. In one, the crying lasts longer than we are comfortable with. In others, characters take their time before speaking or walking towards someone, just like we take our time in real life. There are reflections off glass and mirrors and water. There are funny scenes with the young boy in school and nervous, warmhearted ones with the high school daughter. We see romantic hand-holding and pathetic business deals. The cast was extremely believable. For many of them it was their first film. The kids were especially good. It was more of a feeling than a film. It wasn't a single minute too long. I loved it.