Yi Yi (2000) – 25th Anniversary

Edward Yang’s final film, one of the greatest movies of the current century and one of the top-rated films by cinephiles on Letterboxd.

Set in Taiwan, the film follows the lives of the Jian family from the alternating perspectives of the three main family members: father N.J. (Nien-Jen Wu), teenage daughter Ting-Ting (Elaine Jin) and young son Yang-Yang (Issei Ogata). N.J., disgruntled with his current job, attempts to court the favor of a prominent video game company while Ting-Ting and Yang-Yang contend with the various trials of youth, all while caring for N.J.’s mother-in-law, who lies in a coma.

Everywhere in this beautifully understated drama, the blessedness of ordinary people, as individuals and bound in clans, is knowingly, movingly conveyed. – Entertainment Weekly

As I watched the final credits of Yi Yi through bleary eyes, I struggled to identify the overpowering feeling that was making me tear up. Was it grief? Joy? Mirth? Yes, I decided, it was all of these. But mostly, it was gratitude. – New York Times