Yi Yi (2000) Yi yi (original title)

Director:

Edward Yang

Writer:

Edward Yang (written by)

Release Date:

20 September 2000 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Music | Romance

Plot:

Each member of a family in Taipei asks hard questions about life's meaning as they live through everyday quandaries...

Plot Keywords:

Love | Business | Coma | Neighbor | Camera

Awards:

14 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Nien-Jen Wu	...	N.J.
Elaine Jin	...	Min-Min
Issei Ogata	...	Ota
Kelly Lee	...	Ting-Ting
Jonathan Chang	...	Yang-Yang
Hsi-Sheng Chen	...	Ah-Di
Su-Yun Ko	...	Sherry
Shu-shen Hsiao	...	Hsiao Yen
Adriene Lin	...	Li-Li
Pang Chang Yu	...	Fatty
Ru-Yun Tang	...	NJ's Mother
Shu-Yuan Hsu
Hsin-Yi Tseng	...	Yun-Yun
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Josephine A. Blankstein		(as An-an Hsu)
Yiwen Chen
Lawrence Ko	...	The Soldier (as Yulun Ke)
Kai-Li Peng	...	Cellist in cello concert scene
Tsung Sheng Tang	...	Blue Shirt
Edward Yang	...	Pianist in cello concert scene

Directed by
Edward Yang

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Edward Yang		written by

Produced by
Shin'ya Kawai	....	associate producer
Osamu Kunota	....	associate producer
Yoshiko Okura	....	assistant producer
Michiyo Satô	....	assistant producer
Naoko Tsukeda	....	associate producer
Wei-yen Yu	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Kai-Li Peng

Cinematography by
Wei-han Yang

Film Editing by
Bo-Wen Chen

Production Design by
Peng

Makeup Department
Hua Kao	....	special makeup effects artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Yu-Hui Wang	....	assistant director
Shih-Ping Yang	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Du-Che Tu	....	sound (as Du-Chih Du)

Camera and Electrical Department
Lung-Yu Lee	....	gaffer

Other crew
Tony Rayns	....	subtitles: English

Production Companies

• AtomFilms
• Nemuru Otoko Seisaku Iinkai
• Omega Project
• Pony Canyon

Distributors

• Diaphana Films (2000) (France) (theatrical)
• Golem Distribución (2001) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Kuzui Enterprises (2000) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Národní Filmový Archiv (NFA) (2002) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• Omuro Pictures (2000) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Upstream Pictures (2001) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• WinStar Cinema (2000) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Criterion Collection, The (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• E Stars Films (2004) (China) (TV)
• Filmfreak Distributie (2002) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Fox Lorber (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2003) (Australia) (DVD)
• trigon-film (2004) (Switzerland) (DVD) (subtitled)

Also Known As:

"Yi yi" - Taiwan (original title)
"Yi Yi: A One and a Two..." - International (English title)

Runtime:

173 min

Country:

Taiwan | Japan

Language:

Mandarin | Hokkien | English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Finland:S | France:U | Germany:6 | Hong Kong:IIA | South Korea:All | Spain:13 | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:Not Rated | Singapore:PG | Portugal:M/12

Filming Locations:

Taipei City, Taiwan

Company:

AtomFilms

Trivia:

Chosen by "Les Cahiers du cinéma" (France) as one of the ten best pictures of 2000 (#7, tied with The Virgin Suicides (1999)).

Quotes:

Ting-Ting:[Subtitled Version] Why is the world so different from what we thought it was? Now that you're awake and see it again... has it changed at all? Now I've closed my eyes... the world I see... is so beautiful.

Movie Connections:

References Pretty Woman (1990)

Soundtrack:

Vaga luna, che inargenti

insightful masterpiece

This insightful, beautifully written and directed film contemplates on many things concerning the modern individual. The focus is a family in Taipei, the feelings, struggles, conflicts of family members at different life stages. The architecture is used as a part of the story, the surroundings the characters are in, always seem to tell us something about that particular situation. The effects of modernity and capitalism on the individual and traditional values are aptly analyzed and basic human emotions like love, loneliness, commitment and frustration are contemplated with a hard to match observation and tenderness. The little boy seems to verbalize the director's approach to film making: "We only understand half of everything because we can only see what's in front of us." and Yang's camera aptly shows us "the other side" of every situation. As a character says "with films, we experience many more lives than we actually can in one lifetime" and this film is a whole life experience in 3 hours.