Films › Directing
Yi Yi
Directed by Edward Yang, 2000
Yang stages family life in wide, static compositions, often shooting through glass so the city reflects onto the characters. Three generations run in parallel and the film cuts between them thematically rather than chronologically. Conversations are frequently shot from behind or at a distance, denying easy emotional access. It runs nearly three hours and never raises its voice. Cinematographer Yang Weihan holds most scenes in static wide shots, refusing close-ups even at emotional peaks, which forces the audience to locate feeling through blocking and distance rather than facial performance. Reflections in glass are composed so carefully that interior and exterior spaces visually overlap, collapsing the boundary between private family life and the city around it. Yang's editing rhythm never accelerates for incident, treating a wedding, a death and a childhood realization with the same unhurried visual grammar throughout.
What to watch for
Watch the reflection compositions in office and apartment windows and what they place inside the frame.
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