Yi Yi
WinStar Cinema | Release Date: October 6, 2000 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
93
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 25 Critic Reviews
Positive:
25
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
Wise, delicate and impeccably performed, Yi Yi is a three- hour drama that looks at one middle-class family in transition -- and does so with such a kind and probing eye that we all see our lives reflected through Yang's lens. Read full review
100
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Yang favors a gentle and introspective style that shows how deep and strong everyday emotions can run. A memorable treat. Read full review
100
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
In exchange for three hours of your time, Yi Yi will give you more life. Read full review
100
SalonCharles Taylor
Quietly overwhelming. Read full review
100
LarsenOnFilmJosh Larsen
Nothing that occurs is out of the realm of ordinary experience—there is a wedding, a grandmother’s stroke, money troubles, a funeral—yet it all reverberates with meaning because of the camera’s careful attention and the sensitive performances by every actor in the ensemble cast. Read full review
100
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
It's a magical film -- an exquisitely made and exceedingly wise family drama that communicates a touching sense of the universality of the human condition, and leaves us with the rich emotional satisfaction we just don't seem to get often at the movies anymore. Read full review
100
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Great, bittersweet family drama. Read full review
100
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
These 173 minutes don't drag, they waltz. Read full review
100
Slant MagazineEd Gonzalez
The film’s brilliance emanates equally from its structure (the story is delicately bookended by two cultural rituals: a wedding and a funeral), the acuteness of its gaze, and Yang’s acknowledgement of life as a series of alternately humdrum and catastrophic occurrences, like a flower that blooms in the summer and wilts in the fall; he hopes you will notice it, because seeing is what validates its unique extraordinariness. Read full review
94
Mr. ShowbizMichael Atkinson
The one movie so far this year that every filmgoer should see, if only to get a big dose of what we've been missing from Hollywood. Read full review
90
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Yang seems to miss nothing as he interweaves shifting viewpoints and poignant emotional refrains. Read full review
90
Rolling StonePeter Travers
A marvel of delicacy and humor.
90
L.A. WeeklyManohla Dargis
Generous, soulful film. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Wonderfully humanistic film. Yi Yi investigates the entire melody of life. Read full review
90
NewsweekDavid Ansen
One of the year's best: a rich, funny, enormously humane portrait of a middle-class Taipei family in the throes of romantic, economic and spiritual upheaval. Read full review
90
Film.comDavid D'Arcy
More than a family saga, this is a family meditation. Read full review
90
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Although dense with incident and motif, the movie has an effortless flow. Read full review
90
Washington PostDesson Thomson
On one level, Yi Yi is classic soap opera, with a suicide attempt, a wedding ceremony, even a brutal 11 o'clock news murder, all in the mix. But Yang's direction is so admirably restrained, it lends rich heft to everything. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
It may be the first meditative action movie. Read full review
88
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Yi Yi is an intimate movie, for all its length and complexity. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Only rarely is a film this observant and tender about the ups and downs of daily existence. Read full review
88
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Passes like an evening spent with friends. Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Builds so gradually you probably won't realize it's a near-masterpiece until it's over, but there are hints along the way. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Capturing the nuances of quotidian life may not be everyone's cup of tea. Read full review
75
New York PostJonathan Foreman
Presents an intelligent, profound and at times heartrending slice of Taiwanese middle-class existence - as seen by characters at different stages of life. Read full review
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