Yi Yi(2000)

Name: Yi Yi
Director: Edward Yang
Genre: Drama
Released: Oct 6, 2000
Cast: Nien-Jen Wu, Elaine Jin, Issei Ogata, Kelly Lee, Jonathan Chang

Independent

2h 53m
- Drama

Release Date: Oct 6, 2000

Portrait of a middle-class family in Taipei. A man in his forties, his teenage daughter and his eight-year-old son experience life, navigating between remorse, hope and disappointment.

Note: Distributed by WinStar Cinema

Release Details

Original Release | Oct 6, 2000 | Limited

2025 Re-release | Sep 5, 2025 | Limited (Janus Films)

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Box Office Results

All Releases (2)
Total US & Canada:
$1,252,241
Total International
$261,137
Total Worldwide:
$1,528,767

Total US & Canada:
$288,198
Total Worldwide:
$288,198

Current Showtimes

orround

Wed Aug 26
Thu Aug 27
Fri Aug 28
Sat Aug 29
Sun Aug 30
Mon Aug 31
Tue Sep 1

Director & Top Cast

Edward Yang
Director

Nien-Jen Wu
Actor

Elaine Jin
Actor

Issei Ogata
Actor

Kelly Lee
Actor

Jonathan Chang
Actor

Hsi-Sheng Chen

Actor

Su-Yun Ko

Actor

Chuan-cheng Tao

Actor

Shu-shen Hsiao

Actor

Meng-chin 'Adriene' Lin

Actor

Pang Chang Yu

Actor

Ru-Yun Tang

Actor

Shu-Yuan Hsu

Actor

Hsin-Yi Tseng

Actor

Yung-Feng Lee

Actor

Shi-hui Chin

Actor

Jie Wu

Actor

Technical Specifications

Sound Mix: Dolby Digital

Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: Taiwan, Japan

Language: Mandarin,Min Nan,Hokkien,English,Japanese,French

Summaries

Storyline

Buttressed between two milestone events within their personal sphere, the lives of the Jians - husband and wife N.J. and Min-Min, teenage daughter Ting-Ting, and eight year old son Yang-Yang - and to a lesser extent that of their broader grouping of extended family and friends, are presented. The Jians live in an upscale apartment complex in Taipei along with Min-Min's mother, who has fallen into a coma, each family member who takes turns by her bedside to relay life's goings-on to her regardless of if she can hear them. While Min-Min has troubles with this on-going task, the other three use her as an unofficial sounding board for their issues, primarily in the realm of finding their place in current life and their role in her predicament. Yang-Yang still has a child's simple perspective of the world, such as the reason he has a penchant for taking photographs of the back of people's heads, that naiveté exactly the reason he is the target of bullying especially among a group of older girls, and by one of his teachers. Ting-Ting is acting as the unofficial intermediary in the complicated relationship between her best friend and next door neighbor Lili, and her boyfriend Fatty. It is made all the more difficult as Ting-Ting has feelings for Fatty herself. And N.J., a computer electronics engineer, is seen as the honest one among him and his partners, which is why he is chosen to deal with Japanese Mr. Ota in assessing if it worth the expensive but potentially lucrative risk of going into business with him. Concurrently, N.J., who uses Mr. Ota as a confidante of sorts in their emerging friendship, reunites and becomes reacquainted with childhood friend Sherry, married and now living in Chicago, she who could have been the one in his life if he ended up keeping their appointment thirty years ago. Min-Min's younger brother A-Di may face that same conundrum thirty years down the road as he just married Xiao-Yan partly for a very specific reason, while his old girlfriend Yunyun fumes on the sidelines. — Huggo Each member of a family in Taipei asks hard questions about life's meaning as they live through everyday quandaries. NJ is morose: his brother owes him money, his mother is in a coma, his wife suffers a spiritual crisis when she finds her life a blank, his business partners make bad decisions against his advice, and he reconnects with his first love 30 years after he dumped her. His teenage daughter Ting-Ting watches emotions roil in their neighbors' flat and is experiencing the first stirrings of love. His 8-year-old son Yang-Yang is laconic like his dad and pursues truth with the help of a camera. "Why is the world so different from what we think it is?" asks Ting-Ting. —