Yi yi: A One and a Two: Long Periods with Characters

Thirty minutes in and I find myself slightly alienated by Yi yi—not sure whether it was simply my mood, the film’s opening or the complexities of sitting down and committing to a 3-hour epic in a busy period. Either way I took the very rare move of setting it aside for the night, coming back to it the following morning, and in many ways I’m glad that I did. Upon restarting the film I was instantly more connected with the characters, their interconnections, reflections upon each other and more acutely aware of the films subtle and quiet style. However could I interpret this break I took differently, instead of stopping and re-starting the film it may have been almost as if I left it playing over those first moments (ones without any closure) that subconsciously made me more connected to the characters when I met them again the next morning—as by then my relationship with the characters spanned over 12 hours. Thus continuing through the rest of the film my connections were strengthened further reaching hugely emotionally engaging turns and climaxes (if we can call them that through the subtle narrative style) between me and the characters. But this sparked a question in my head, in some instances to we commit to the characters and their problems simply because we have spent so much time watching them—or is it always down to good writing, storytelling and filmmaking?

To take this into a different context we could consider the television serial—a form I watch very little of. Here we find exactly this formula, creating initially engaging characters and content to attach you emotionally to the narrative. This is where many shows can take their foot off the pedal, slowing down narrative progression or technical interest to instead crank out content which the fan base will consume. Two prime examples I have experienced of this are Breaking Bad and Samurai Champloo, which after a while simply play in circles with little new development leaving you looking back to the first episodes to find the reason you connected with the series in the first place. This is obviously not a catch-all trend, just one which can plague the serial format as a whole (be it TV, film or literature). But can we say the same about a single film? The problem is complicated as instead of spending days, weeks or months with the characters we have one sitting usually between 1-3 hours. The limited time of engagement with the characters makes this problem disappear in many ways. But the question still remains—does spending longer with the characters make you care more for them?

I feel that any answer I can give to this question would be only half-baked, however I can say that from my experience with Yi yi the overnight break kept the characters alive for longer and coupling that with the extended running time of the film created a greater bond between me and them. In many ways you could compare the film to a serial; it contains many mini narratives that affect each other while being separate enough to require their own separate screen time. It covers a number of ages, topics and variations on its themes—allowing an appeal to a greater audience. The list can go on; but I am glad that it avoided the serial format as through it’s single run-time the style is hugely coherent and character arcs receive limited screen time—perfectly avoiding the ‘foot off the pedal’ issue of extended serials.

As a footnote; I find the style of Yi yi perplexing. It remains hugely coherent, un-intrusive and serves the narrative perfectly throughout it’s full run-time. However this makes me come away with little formal praise (regarding the film-image), the film contains a sparing number of phenomenal shots but it’s use of sound, editing and lighting remain very hidden behind the subtly natural style. Should I then praise these elements as fitting with the overall mood and style, or critique them for lacking innovation and existing only in my periphery as a viewer. At the moment I am stuck in the middle of these two opinions—it suits the style so it doesn’t deserve criticism but they leave no impression on the viewer therefore don’t deserve praise either. Which side are you on?

Yi Yi: A One and A Two (2000)

8/13