A quarter into the 21st century, there are only a few films critics unanimously consider masterworks. Now, one of those movies gets a new 4K restoration for its 25th anniversary, allowing a new generation of cinephiles to see it on the big screen for the first time next month. Haven’t seen Edward Yang‘s “Yi Yi” before? Now’s your chance. Yang’s 2000 film follows a middle-class engineer in Taipei and three generations of his family over a single year.
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Here’s an official synopsis for the film, courtesy of Janus Films:
The extraordinary, internationally embraced Yi Yi (A One and a Two . . .), directed by the late Taiwanese master Edward Yang, follows a middle-class family in Taipei over the course of one year, beginning with a wedding and ending with a funeral. Whether chronicling middle-aged father NJ’s tentative flirtations with an old flame or precocious young son Yang-Yang’s attempts at capturing reality with his beloved camera, the filmmaker deftly imbues every gorgeous frame with a compassionate clarity. Warm, sprawling, and dazzling, this intimate epic is one of the undisputed masterworks of the new century.
“Yi Yi” stars Wu Nien-jen, Elaine Jin, Kelly Lee, Jonathan Chang, Issey Ogata, Chen Hsi-Sheng, Su-Yun Ko, and Chang Yu Pang.
Yang won the Best Director award at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival for “Yi Yi,” where the film had its world premiere. Shinya Kawai produces the film.
The 25th anniversary 4K restoration of “Yi Yi” opens at Film At Lincoln Center in NYC on September 5. Watch a trailer for the film below.
