Yi Yi Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Yi Yi Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 21, 2011

Winner of Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Edward Yang's "Yi Yi" (2000) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include the film's original theatrical trailer; audio commentary with writer-director Edward Yang and Asian cinema expert Tony Rayns; and a featurette in which Tony Rayns discusses New Taiwan Cinema. The disc also arrives with 20-page illustrated booklet. In Mandarin and English, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The Wedding Party

Edward Yang’s Yi Yi begins with a large wedding ceremony where the viewer is introduced to a middle-class family from Taipei, their relatives and friends, and the friends of their friends. Not long after that, the oldest member of the family has a stroke and goes into a coma. The doctor warns that everyone should prepare for the worst.

NJ (Wu Nienjen, writer, A City of Sadness) is the head of the family. He is married to Min-Min (Elaine Jin, The Soong Sisters) and they have two children: a beautiful teenage girl named Ting-Ting (Kelly Lee) and a curious little boy called Yang-Yang (Jonathan Chang). They see each other only when they occasionally gather around the table for dinner; most of the time they are scattered all over Taipei.

NJ is at a point in his life where he has hardly any ambitions left. At work he feels useless because his former partners have evolved into egoists obsessed with profits. He understands why – the world has changed for the worse, and people have started adapting. At home it seems like he has everything a married man would want, but he isn’t happy.

Like NJ, Min-Min feels jaded. She loves her family, but needs a long break from it. She also senses that NJ is slowly drifting away from her, but is unsure if it is because of another woman or because their relationship has simply matured.

Ting-Ting has been trying to help her best friend get back with her boyfriend (Yupang Chang). But when he approaches her she makes a surprising move, one that she has no one to discuss with.

Little Yang-Yang is fascinated with the world around him. He has just discovered that there is a lot he can see that his parents and friends cannot - like the back of their heads, or the tiny mosquitoes flying around, or how the water in the nearby pool changes its colors when he jumps in it. To help them see what he can see, Yang-Yang buys a small camera and begins taking pictures.

Yi Yi has a very unusual structure. On one hand, it is a fascinating portrait of a family whose members face a number of different dilemmas. Without exception, they deal with them on their own, and eventually discover that even though their lives are interconnected their worlds are not.

On the other hand, Yi Yi is also a film about a city in transition. Globalization has reached Taipei and started eroding old perceptions of morality and business. For example, NJ’s encounter with a Japanese businessman (Issey Ogata, Tony Takitani), who he believes is the right type of person with the right product that could help his battered company recover, is particularly illuminating about the new social and business climate that has emerged in director Yang’s home city.

Translated into English the title of the film refers to "individuality", which is the key element that ties the loose ends of the narrative - Yi Yi is literally a rather big slice of life in which various characters, as well as their beloved Taipei, have realized that they must adapt on their own.

Note: In 2000, Yi Yi won Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival. A year later, Yi Yi won Best Film Award at the National Society of Film Critics Awards.

Yi Yi Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Edward Yang's Yi Yi arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray disc:

"This digital transfer was created on a Spirit 4K Datacine from 35mm interpositive. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter, and flicker were manually removed using MTI's DRS system and Pixel Farm's PFClean system, while Digital Vision's DVNR system was used for small dirt, grain, and noise reduction.

Telecine supervisor: Lee Kline.
Telecine colorist: Steve Calalang/Technicolor, New York.
Additional color correction: Alex Berman/Prime Focus, New York."

The transition to 1080p has produced some serious improvements. A quick comparison with Criterion's SDVD release of Yi Yi reveals improved detail, especially during close-ups, stronger color reproduction, and better contrast. Background noise and shimmer have also been addressed. For example, during the wedding ceremony in the beginning of the film there is still some softness, but clarity is dramatically improved and shimmer eliminated. Traces of mild edge-enhancement occasionally pop up here and there, but are never distracting. It is also easy to tell that random noise corrections have been applied, but a light layer of grain is easy to see throughout the entire film. Finally, there are no serious stability issues to report in this review. I also did not see any large cuts, warps, damage marks, or stains. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Yi Yi Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (with portions of English). For the record, Criterion have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray disc:

"The 2.0 soundtrack was mastered at 24-bit from the original 2-track Lt/Rt magnetic master. Clicks, thumps, hiss, and him were manually removed using Pro Tools HD. Crackle was attenuated using Audio Cube's integrated audio workstation."

The Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track is very strong. It does not boast a wide range of subtle dynamics, but the dialog is crisp, clean, stable, and exceptionally easy to follow. There are no balance issues with Peng Kai-Li's music score either. Finally, I did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, hissings, or audio dropouts to report in this review. The English translation is excellent.

Yi Yi Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - a very informative audio commentary with writer-director Edward Yang and Asian cinema expert Tony Rayns, which also appeared on Criterion's SDVD release of Yi Yi. In English, not subtitled.
  
  

• Tony Rayns - Tony Rayns discusses the New Taiwan Cinema, its most notable directors, and the work of director Edward Yang. In English, not subtitled. (16 min, 1080i).
  
  

• Trailer - the original theatrical trailer for Yi Yi. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080i).
  
  

• Booklet - 20-page illustrated booklet containing Kent Jones' essay "Time and Space" and notes from Edward Yang (reprinted from the original press note for the film's 2000 release)
  
  

Yi Yi Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Yi Yi is a wonderful, profoundly moving film by arguably Taiwan's best director, Edward Yang. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of Criterion, looks and sounds very good. It also contains an excellent audio commentary with director Edward Yang and Asian cinema expert Tony Rayns. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.