Yi Yi 4K 2000

A drama about the problems in Enjay's (Wu Nianchen) family and his attempt to reinvent himself at a mature age.

This film by Edward Yang could be called “Asian Beauty,” given its similar focus to Sam Mendes' film “American Beauty” (or “American Beauty,” which I think is a more accurate translation). Essentially, a man in his 40s or 50s rediscovers the meaning of life and wants to return to it and correct all his mistakes. It is an interesting and timeless idea that will never grow old, which is why critics liked the film and included it in their list of the most outstanding films of the first decade of the 21st century.

However, unlike Sam Mendes' film, there were no interesting artistic moves here, and everything was staged in a fairly realistic and minimalistic way. The latter, by the way, can also be noted in the film Rosetta by the Dardenne brothers, which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1999. It turns out that Edward Yang's film borrowed the theme of the 1999 Oscar winner (American Beauty) and the style of the Cannes winner of the same year.

The film is very long, running for almost three hours, and you need to be in a certain mood to watch it, because it is a mood-driven film. Unfortunately, the film did not suit my mood, so I found it boring in places, although Yi Yi is undoubtedly a good film. This was also noted at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, where the top prize went to Lars von Trier's “Dancer in the Dark,” and the award for best director went to Edward Yang's film.

At first glance, Yi Yi seems like a simple, everyday film, but it still requires a certain amount of patience and mood to watch. The ending was touching.