Yi Yi- 5 Stars

Criterion Collection Cover

Yi Yi, roughly translated as 'One after another' (although the original characters, when placed together, form the Taiwanese word for Two), was the final film made by Taiwanese filmmaker Edward Yang before he sadly died at only 59. It is a film that really defies short description. On the surface it is simply the story of a family living in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, and their different everyday struggles and choices. Yet under this simplistic premise, the film is really an examination of human relationships, age, love and, most of all, regret.

The three central characters in the film are NJ, the middle aged father who struggles to maintain his business endeavors whilst also meeting by chance his former girlfriend who he walked out on many years ago; Ting-Ting, the teenage daughter who struggles with the family dependence on her in her mother's absence (the mother heads off to a Buddhist retreat at the start of the film after facing a midlife crisis) and her own development of romantic feelings; and finally Yang-Yang, the 8 year old son and his troubles at school. Surrounding these three central main characters is a huge supporting cast including NJ's brother-in-law, A-Di, who at the beginning of the film marries a film starlet because he got her pregnant despite still being in love with his former girlfriend, a Japanese game designer Ota, who seems to be the only person with any clear sense and ability to express it in the film, and Ting-Ting's friend Lilli, whose mother brings home a string of men, many of whom are abusive, whilst Lilli struggles with her troubles with her own boyfriend.

The biggest difficulty in writing about this film is knowing where to start. There are so many different plot and character threads, all of which contribute different thematic perspectives that it is quite overwhelming in terms of analysis, with each scene contributing another nugget of understanding. It makes most sense, therefore, to dissect each of the main character's arcs in turn, and from there to deviate into supporting characters and their meanings when necessary. Since NJ is seemingly the linchpin of the film as the head of the family, I shall start with him.

Japanese comedian Issey Ogata as the wise Ota

 NJ is a rather typical middle aged father- he loves his family, wants to do better than his own parents did, and yet is so lost in both his personal and professional life that he cannot really connect with them. Professionally, NJ is working with his old school friend in trying to bring about a deal with Japanese game designer Ota. Although NJ is initially reluctant to get involved with games, something he knows nothing about, Ota's wisdom and kindness win him over. Unfortunately, the very qualities in Ota that win over NJ seem to put off NJ's business partners who decide to pursue another cheaper designer Ata, and assign NJ to string Ota along in case the Ata deal doesn't work out. Ota and NJ bond over music and Ota shows NJ some magic tricks with a pack of cards at a bar. For NJ, Ota represents an integrity and honesty that is completely lost in the commercial sector. Moreover, Ota's love of magic and music points to something beyond the simple making of money. One of the most genius technical achievements of the film is Yang's frequent use of overlaying dialogue from one scene onto another visual scene without having us realise it. The best example of this is when Ota's grand ideas about the next generation of gaming are overlayed onto the previous scene of A-Di's wife having an ultrasound. Ota's ideas of creation in gaming are thus linked with birth and the creation of life- Ota is an artist and his work is a creation of life in itself. NJ, drawn by this and put off by the mundanity of his own work and baseness of financial, commercial greed, begins to withdraw from the business. However, the sadness is that although Ota has given NJ an understanding of how life can be so much more, there is not much NJ can really do to bring it about- he is trapped in the busy day-to-day of modern life.

Wu Nien-jen as NJ meets Sherry (Su-Yun Ko) in
a brief encounter

It is interesting how in the film Japan represents a new hope both professionally and personally for NJ, for it is in Japan where he not only meets with Ota but also reunites for a week with his first girlfriend, Sherry. It is in the handling of the relationship between NJ and Sherry that the film reveals its true genius for it turns what could easily be a melodramatic plot line into a bittersweet reflection on times gone by. Sherry and NJ first meet in the film by chance in the hotel where A-Di's wedding is held. At first their conversation is polite but it is obvious, especially when Sherry comments on NJ's child, Yang-Yang, that something has passed between them. Sherry leaves but then comes storming back over demanding to know why NJ left saying 'I waited, I waited!' but before anything else can happen NJ's old school friend arrives and both go back to their former politeness. In many ways this is a reflection of all the film's main characters- there are all these feelings bubbling under the surface that they want to get out, but, for one reason or another, be it social convention, fear of rejection or simple acceptance that the time has passed, they keep it in, bottling it up inside. Yang very rarely shoots scenes in closeup. In one heartwrenching scene, when NJ calls Sherry up, gets her answerphone and apologises for the past, wishing her all the best, the whole thing is shot from a distance. In a western film, we would usually get close to the character's face, see their emotion, hence creating the stage for melodrama which is based on our emotional response. Yet Yang realises that instead, just as everyone in the film never says everything they need to say, so too must we the audience not see everything we need to see. Just as the characters keep each other at arms length, the audience must be kept at arms length too- it is only through this distancing, that we can really understand the distance between the characters themselves. And yet we understand that just as we desire to be closer in the scene, so too do the characters wish to be closer to each other.

NJ and his son, Yang-Yang (Jonathan Chang)

NJ and Sherry eventually spend a week together in Japan. They reminisce about their past relationship, sometimes wistfully, sometimes angrily turning on each other. Although they never say it, both are trying to understand what went wrong between them, and, perhaps more importantly, whether if they get together now the same thing will happen again. In the end NJ tells Sherry he has never loved anyone but her. She then leaves the next morning without a word of farewell. NJ says that even if he could go back in time he would still have left her. We understand that they do love each other, but that their time has past. Yet Yang adds another layer to their relationship, although to understand this we must first examine several other characters. Firstly, the next door neighbours are used to emphasise the noble restraint of NJ and Sherry. The woman next door, Mrs Jiang, brings home many different men, some of whom hit her, and in the process she alienates her daughter Lilli. In contrast, NJ and Sherry hold hands, but it is made clear by Yang that they do not go further. For NJ and Sherry love is not the passion of Mrs Jiang and her string of boyfriends- one minute having wild sex and the next screaming at each other- it is rather a soulful search for meaning. Both NJ and Sherry are dissatisfied in their current lives and wish to return to their youth, thus their joint interest in each other. It is not, as Yang would see it, a lowly desire of the body, but rather a higher search for the soul. In this way NJ mirrors his wife's retreat to the Buddhist monastery- what she seeks to find in religion, NJ seeks to find in youth and love. Yet both of them fail, with both of them admitting upon their return to still feeling empty.

The second important relationship is that of NJ's brother-in-law A-Di and his wife and former lover. A-Di's wedding starts the film off but it is apparent that he and his wife do not really love each other. Instead A-Di seems to be more interested in spending time with his ex, Yang-Yang, who tells the grandmother at the beginning of the film that she should have been marrying A-Di. We are never told explicitly what has happened between them, but it seems obvious that A-Di and Yang-Yang were in a long term, loving relationship, until A-Di had a short fling with his now wife, resulting in her pregnancy meaning he had to bow to social custom and marry her. This mistake has now ruined A-Di's life. One of the scenes most poignant images is when the usually cheerful and loud A-Di returns home alone after his baby shower, takes off his shirt and just stands there in the centre of the room. His stomach spilling over the front of his trousers, his messy hair- this is a man who, despite the spacious apartments he is living in and the new wealth of his wife, is deeply unhappy and as he enters the beginnings of the physical decay of middle age, he regrets the action that has saddled him with a demanding, unloving wife and lost him his love and happiness. The following scene, in which his wife returns to find him locked in the bathroom with the gas on and the windows closed, leaves it deliberately ambiguous as to whether this was a suicide attempt or not. Whichever way, we understand that NJ's situation, whilst not ever exactly identical, is replicated time and time again.

Yang-Yang reads to his sister, Ting-Ting (Kelly Lee)

Finally, the last important character with which to draw comparisons with NJ and his relationship with Sherry is NJ's own daughter Ting-Ting, and her own tentative relationship. Ting-Ting, at the beginning of the film, watches the next door neighbour's daughter, Lilli, and her boyfriend, Fatty, sneak off to make out (incidentally, distracted by this, Ting-Ting forgets to take the trash out which leads to her grandma having a stroke as she attempts to take the trash out herself, leaving Ting-Ting with feelings of guilt). Ting-Ting befriends Lilli, but it turns out that Lilli and Fatty's relationship is far from ideal and Ting-Ting frequently becomes the go between point between them. As Lilli seemingly begins to follow her mother, and hooks up with other guys, Fatty and Ting-Ting become closer. Perhaps the very best scene in the film is when NJ and Sherry reminisce about the first time they held hands, and realise they are doing so again now, decades later, which is overlaid at the same time with Ting-Ting and Fatty holding hands for the first time. It is simple and underplayed but carries several layers with it. On the surface it seems sweet and romantic- love is both unique and shared by everyone. Everyone has their own unique first time of holding hands with a lover, yet this is an experience with common ground. Yet underneath it all there is a sadder, less romantic implication. Just as NJ and Sherry's teenage relationship fell apart, so too will that of Ting-Ting and Fatty. The regret that NJ and Sherry feel now and the wistfulness for their lost youth will be inevitably repeated throughout time, with Ting-Ting and Fatty, as the next generation, being the symbol of that.

Yang-Yang with his camera- art becomes the only form
of expression for Yang-Yang and Oda

There are many more things to say about Ting-Ting's plotline but, because of space and the fact that aspects of it are the least interesting and convincing of the film (especially the rather contrived murder), I shall move straight on to Yang-Yang. Yang-Yang is in a way the secret hero of the film. In his child's mind he is the only one with true understanding. He asks his father NJ at one point how he knows that they are seeing the same things as each other. NJ responds that he doesn't know. In one small question Yang-Yang sums up all the problems of communication that characters have in the film- no-one quite knows what anyone else is seeing or thinking or feeling, and thus we can never truly know anybody else. Yang-Yang follows up his first question by pointing out that you can never see the whole truth, only half the truth because you can never see the back of your head. He then proceeds throughout the film to take pictures of the back of everybody's heads. This is symbolic of our own self deception and also our failure to ever truly understand anything. It is similar to the magic and music of the Japanese game designer Ota who insists that he cannot explain his tricks: there are some things in life that are greater than us that we cannot explain- true knowledge is in knowing that we cannot explain it.

Ratings: Entertainment: 9 Technical: 5 Intelligence: 5= 19/20 *****

Note: There is still so much to talk about in this film so please do go and watch it. The one further thing I will say is that the actors of Ting-Ting (Kelly Lee) and Yang-Yang (Jonathan Chang) who were only 13 and 8 respectively at the time of filming are truly brilliant in this film and go to show that, provided you find the right ones, child actors need not be a 'kiss of death for your movie'













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