Sweet and long

>> Edward Yang's Yi Yi is a beautiful and intimate family portrait

by SIOBHÀN O'CONNOR

"We live three times as long since the invention of cinema," says a character in Edward Yang's Yi Yi, something one is inclined to believe after sitting through long and winding three-hour films like this one. And though it may not sound like it, that's actually a compliment. Very few films take us on back-alley journeys anymore, and this epic drama, which centres around the everyday lives of a contemporary family, does just that.

While Yi Yi focuses on the loves and struggles of this Taipei family, the film's tentacles extend far beyond their geographical location, touching on everyday realities that will no doubt resonate among Western audiences. Yang artfully exposes the paradoxes inherent in the Jians' lives, where an increasingly high-tech, forward-looking world collides with superstition, family and the power of tradition.

The film opens with a glimpse into a world that we suppose to be pretty ordinary, where the day-to-day generally goes off without a hitch. A few days later, however, grandma falls into a coma and the Jians are encouraged to talk to her out loud; she becomes something of a sounding board for them--it's these conversations that really push the film forward. Meanwhile, mom has a crisis of faith and leaves for a monastery on a hill; dad's (powerfully rendered by Wu Nienjen) first love pops back into the picture while he's trying to salvage what's left of his business; and the adorable eight-year-old Yang-Yang (Jonathan Chang) is getting into trouble while taking photos of people's backs so he can "help adults see what they can't see."

Particularly interesting is the delicate Ting-Ting's story (another fine performance by Kelly Lee), a teenage girl falling in love for the first time while riddled with guilt and confusion about her grandma's inevitable death. It isn't until grandma forgives Ting-Ting (by offering her a delicate white paper butterfly) that the girl can finally sleep again.

To say that Yi Yi is large in scope would be a grave understatement, but the no-frills epic is so subtly executed that it's easy to forget what a layered film it is. Yi Yi manages to be both huge in scope and delightfully pared-down at the same time.

Yi Yi, now playing with French subtitles at Ex-Centris, opens with English subtitles this Friday, May 11