Yi Yi (2000)
95%RT Audience Score: 91%
Awards & Nominations: 15 wins & 25 nominations
Yi Yi is a cinematic masterpiece that delicately weaves together the intricate stories of a modern Taipei family, capturing the essence of life’s shortcomings and the beauty of human connection. Yang’s screenplay builds its story organically, painting a portrait of flawed, tender humans that is both gentle and profound. The film’s nearly three-hour runtime is a testament to its artistry, transforming family melodrama into a serene, generous, and comic vision of our tangled urban lives. With tough insights blended with graceful compassion and gloomy certainties flecked with rays of hope, Yi Yi is a humanistic masterwork that has space for everyone.
Yi Yi is a three-hour masterpiece that follows three generations of a modern Taipei family through a year of loss and realization. But don’t let the runtime scare you – this film is a marvel of delicacy and humor, blending tough insights with graceful compassion and gloomy certainties with rays of hope. It’s a humanistic masterwork that observes its sprawling family with a quiet tenderness, and it has space for everyone. So grab some popcorn, settle in, and get ready to feel like you’ve lived it all.
Production Company(ies)
1+2 Seisaku Iinkai Atom Films, Atom Films,
Distributor
Winstar Cinema
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Taipei City, Taiwan
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
2000
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:2h 53m
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Language(s):Mandarin, Min, Nan, Hokkien, English, Japanese, French
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): May 14, 2000 Original
Release Date (Streaming): May 8, 2001
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
drama, family, Taiwan, everyday life, Nien-Jen Wu, Elaine Jin, Issei Ogata, directed by Edward Yang, written by Edward Yang, produced by Shinya Kawai, Osamu Kunota, Naoko Tsukeda, box office gross $969.1K, reviewed by Kristen Yoonsoo Kim, David Ansen, Geoff Pevere, Rick Groen, Peter Travers, Ed Gonzalez, Pat Padua, A.S Hamrah, Naila Scargill, Josh Larsen, Christopher Machell, Nick Rogers, MPAA rating, Winstar Cinema, surround sound, Dolby SR, Dolby Digital, 2h 53m, 97% Tomatometer, 91% audience score, father-daughter relationship, video game company, coma, loss, flawed humans, urban life, social stratums, human experience, Robert Bresson, Vittorio De Sica, neo-realist masterpiece, humanistic masterwork, life-affirming, gentle and profound, delicate and humorous, tough insights, graceful compassion, gloomy certainties, rays of hope, ensemble heart, karmic rubicon, meaningful fragments, whole cycle of life
Worldwide gross: $1,196,218
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $2,074,739
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,403
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 226,253
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Elaine Jin – Min-Min
Issei Ogata – Ota
Kelly Lee – Ting-Ting
Jonathan Chang – Yang-Yang
Hsi-Sheng Chen – A-Di
Director(s)
Edward Yang
Writer(s)
Edward Yang
Producer(s)
Shinya Kawai, Osamu Kunota, Naoko Tsukeda
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
15 wins & 25 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (86) | Top Critics (27) | Fresh (83) | Rotten (3)
I felt like I had lived it, and not just because of its nearly three-hour runtime.
May 1, 2017
Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
Brooklyn Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Yang takes the long view, transforming the ingredients of family melodrama into a serene, generous, comic vision of our tangled urban lives.
March 31, 2008
David Ansen
Newsweek
TOP CRITIC
Life-affirming in the most genuine, respectful and least mechanical sense.
May 21, 2001
Geoff Pevere
Toronto Star
TOP CRITIC
The artistry is undeniable — tough insights blended with graceful compassion, gloomy certainties flecked with rays of hope.
May 14, 2001 | Rating: 4/4
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail
TOP CRITIC
A marvel of delicacy and humor.
May 8, 2001 | Rating: 4.5/5
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone
TOP CRITIC
A humanistic masterwork.
May 2, 2001 | Rating: 4/4
Ed Gonzalez
Slant Magazine
TOP CRITIC
For three hours, the film observes its sprawling family with a quiet tenderness.
November 24, 2020
Pat Padua
Washington City Paper
This finely observed three-hour film follows three generations of a modern Taipei family through a year that’s marked by loss and by the realization of life’s shortcomings…
September 16, 2020
A.S. Hamrah
The Baffler
Yang thoughtfully balances disparate characters’ intricate stories to represent anatomies of society. The effect is both gentle and profound.
February 28, 2019
Naila Scargill
Trebuchet
Yi Yi has space for everyone.
February 23, 2019 | Rating: 4/4
Josh Larsen
LarsenOnFilm
Rather than the typical inciting incident of a film’s typical narrative structure, Yang’s screenplay builds its story organically, painting a portrait of flawed, tender humans.
April 23, 2018 | Rating: 5/5
Christopher Machell
CineVue
Blending the Coen Brothers’ karmic rubicon with Robert Altman’s ensemble heart, “Yi Yi” scratches the identifiable itch to reach out for what we’ve loved, set free and had come back, perhaps still not meant to be: jobs, lovers, freedoms, opportunities.
December 15, 2010 | Rating: 4/4
Nick Rogers
The Film Yap…
Plot
A ONE AND A TWO… follows the lives of the Jian family in Taiwan, focusing on the perspectives of father N.J., teenage daughter Ting-Ting, and young son Yang-Yang as they navigate the trials of everyday life while caring for N.J.’s comatose mother-in-law.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Issei Ogata, who plays the young son Yang-Yang, is a renowned Japanese actor and playwright.
Edward-Yang.jpg
