Yi Yi (A One and a Two)

Edward Yang's Yi Yi (English title A One and a Two) was released in 2000, and made many best of the decade lists. It is of epic shape--almost three hours--but focuses on the smallest of subjects: the inner workings of a family.

The film begins at a wedding and ends at a funeral, and between the two we meet the extended family of NJ (Nien-Jen Wu). The wedding is of his brother-in-law (Hsi-Sheng Chien), who is a bit of a sad sack, to his very pregnant girlfriend. NJ has two children: the dutiful high-school age daughter (Kelly Lee) and an enigmatic eight-year-old (Jonathan Chang). The night of the wedding NJ's mother-in-law collapses from a stroke, sending her daughter (Elaine Jin) into a severe depression.

The film then follows the strands from these characters. Wu, worried about his company, goes to Tokyo to secure a deal, and has a rendezvous with his old flame (Su-Yun Ko), who has never gotten over him. Chien, who owes Wu money, has unwisely invested with a friend (one thing we learn--never trust a guy who's nickname is "Piggy") and casually maintains a relationship with an old girlfriend. Lee makes friends with a girl who lives next door, who dates a soulful boy. But later, when that couple is having problems, Lee is asked to be a go-between, and she eventually forms an attachment to the boy. Meanwhile Chang deals with bullying teachers and develops a fondness for photography. He takes a series of photos of the backs of people's heads, thoughtfully thinking that since no can see the back of one's head he will be helpful.

Yi Yi combines the structure of Western film with the pacing of Asian film. There are many long takes, usually long shots. Nothing is hurried, which goes a long way for the length of the film, but I was never bored--there is no way to guess what is coming next. Some of the film is quite funny, but always with an edge of melancholy, particularly a party for Chien's newborn, which ends in tumult when his old girlfriend shows up. Some of the writing soars, such as the scene near the end of the film when Wu and Ko hash out why they broke up. Then there is the exquisite editing when Yang cuts between Lee on her first date with the boy and Wu and Ko reliving their first date in Tokyo.

It was interesting to learn on the DVD extras that this film was never released in Taiwan, Yang's home country, due to his disgust with their distribution system. I'm surprised that this film has never been remade by a Hollywood studio, but perhaps Yang has no interest in that. Certainly a Hollywood film would be much shorter, and would probably take shortcuts that would betray his vision.