Yi Yi is one of the oddest experiences I've had watching a movie in a while. I had to watch this movie in two parts because something came up when I started to watch it. I made sure to catch myself back up on the characters and what was going on but it was still an odd way to watch the film. Yet, this movie isn't about keeping up with a plot but it's about the relationships the characters make along the way. A lot of this movie I spent just kinda watching and thinking, "this is nice". It showed the turmoil of everyday life and how we get through everyday. I liked the characters and I thought the cinematography was some of the best I had ever seen. It really wasn't until the ending when I realized the impact Yi Yi had actually had on me.
I'm gonna have to give this a rewatch soon because this genuinely could become an all time favorite for me. The ending had so many moments and lines that deeply related to me and touched my soul in a way a film hasn't done in a very long time. There's a scene where the N.J. explains to his wife that he got a chance to relive his youth and thought maybe it would be a chance to make things turn out differently. He then explains that he realized that even if he was given that chance- not much would have happened differently so he wouldn't need it.
I beat myself up on a daily basis about my past. The person I was in High School makes me cringe a little. I don't think I was a bad person but I lacked some perception of myself I've gained in the last three years. I constantly think if I had been the person I was now in High School- if I would be further along in my path now. If I would be happier and this is an issue that keeps me trapped in my own head a lot. This conversation really hit deep- realizing that there is a time and reason we make the decisions we do and why we are the people we are.
Then there's the last scene at a funeral. I don't want to spoil it but the kids speech in this is one of the greatest sequences of film I've ever seen. It is the perfect perception discovering what you want to do. It is a perfect look at the loss of childhood and the discovery of morality we all go through when we go through our first loss. I was utterly floored by it.
I was floored by this whole film. I had no idea at first this would have any sort of impact on me. Honestly I thought the first two hours were very good but I thought that was all it was going to be for me. It really is the ending that makes the whole film mean so much more to me. Yet, this ending would not have had the same impact if it hadn't been for the slow burn and the fact we spent so much time with the characters in this film and we got to know them. So many films just rush to get to plot point after plot point and Andrew Yang doesn't even begin to do this. He lets this film breathe and organically come to life and that makes the rawness of the film all the more cathartic.
This is a perfect film. I'm in love.
