90
More than a family saga, this is a family meditation.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
88
Philadelphia Inquirer by Carrie Rickey
It may be the first meditative action movie.
90
One of the year's best: a rich, funny, enormously humane portrait of a middle-class Taipei family in the throes of romantic, economic and spiritual upheaval.
100
Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt
Yang favors a gentle and introspective style that shows how deep and strong everyday emotions can run. A memorable treat.
100
San Francisco Chronicle by Edward Guthmann
Wise, delicate and impeccably performed, Yi Yi is a three- hour drama that looks at one middle-class family in transition -- and does so with such a kind and probing eye that we all see our lives reflected through Yang's lens.
90
Chicago Reader by Jonathan Rosenbaum
Yang seems to miss nothing as he interweaves shifting viewpoints and poignant emotional refrains.
90
Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan
Wonderfully humanistic film. Yi Yi investigates the entire melody of life.
88
Charlotte Observer by Lawrence Toppman
Yi Yi is an intimate movie, for all its length and complexity.
90
Generous, soulful film.
90
Rolling Stone by Peter Travers
A marvel of delicacy and humor.
This film is well worth the longer runtime. When I finished it, I wanted to start it from the beginning and watch it again. It's deeply moving and Edward Yang's minimalist shooting style puts the audience in a room with these characters, not just in a room watching a movie about them. Even in a foreign language, the writing is almost overwhelmingly sensitive to each character's emotions. This film addresses pain in a way that is true to life, but arrives at a reassuring subtle optimism about the human condition.