“Yi Yi” has a little bit of everything in terms of its narrative, which is really split into about four or five different stories, each one focused on a character from the Jian family which the film follows. The film delves into lots of little themes like existentialism, teenage romance, former loves, and questions about life in general. The pacing may be a bit slow for some, but if you enjoy “life” stories, then you’ll like this film. It’s similar to Ang Lee’s “Eat Drink Man Woman”, another Taiwanese New Wave film, which focuses on issues of middle-class life in Taiwan.

The cinematography of the film is fairly simplistic, with a lot of static shots, but I notice that Yang makes use of reflections and the frame-within-a-frame. The bright and colorful scenery of Taipei is also quite visually pleasing.

There aren’t many negative things I can point out with the film. It’s a bit on the long side (a little under three hours), but being an avid movie watcher that doesn’t bother me. I agree that the film isn’t for everyone, but if you’re going to get the Criterion DVD ($40), you should know what you’re getting. There’s actually an older Region 1 version I found for cheaper ($20 or less), but it’s getting harder to find with the Criterion copy out.

Yi Yi (A One and A Two) is a film from Taiwan by Edward Yang that is bold on every level, but never seems to show off. In the film we follow a family through a year with glimpses of moments from their lives. While it seemed a bit slow at first, I realized about a third of the way through that everything was being set up and it all just clicked and I was completely entranced. There isn’t a wasted frame in the entire film and the connections within the film become surprising and completely natural as it all starts to make sense. An amazing film that everyone who has an interest in filmmaking should see.