Yi Yi - A One and A Two (Taiwan, 2000)
Written, Directed: Edward Yang.
Perhaps deep inside, we are all voyeurs. We like to observe people, seeing what they do behind the privacy of their doors. In the new pigeon holes that city dwellers run their hectic lives on the outside, they seem to be boxed in exclusivity. Conversely, with their clear glass exterior seemingly guarding their private spaces, to an inquisitive eye, all their dealing are bare open. Perusing through the landscape, we realise that everyone carries their own stories. What we see, as an outsider, maybe half-truths, skewed perspective, jaundiced or judgemental. We do not know the real predicament or turmoil that he is going through, but surely to a thinking person, it could be educational as we pave our own paths in the journey of life.
This Made-in-Taiwan movie tells the story of an extended family who lives in an exclusive high-rise apartment in Taipei. A 40-something couple with their two school going children (a teenage girl and a pre-pubescent boy) all have their internal issues to handle. Central to all these people is the maternal grandmother who is bedridden comatose with a stroke. The father, a software engineer, has to ask the burning question if life would have been different if he had pursued the love of his life. The mother, with her ill mother in the house living her remaining days, goes through an existential crisis. The teenage daughter is caught in a love triangle, and the son is bullied in school. Amidst all these, there are the father's brother, his demanding gravid new bride and the foul-mouthed old flame; the constantly squabbling neighbours with the adulterous wife and many characters to make us realise that life is a potpourri of fragrances. After some time, our senses get too numbed with the scent that we forget that it exists. We see the garden but fail to smell the flowers.
Even if we had decided to plant a different set of flora, the ensuing outcome would surely be uniquely different but aromatic, nevertheless. What if it were left to go wild, would it be sweet smelling too?
https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson
Written, Directed: Edward Yang.
Perhaps deep inside, we are all voyeurs. We like to observe people, seeing what they do behind the privacy of their doors. In the new pigeon holes that city dwellers run their hectic lives on the outside, they seem to be boxed in exclusivity. Conversely, with their clear glass exterior seemingly guarding their private spaces, to an inquisitive eye, all their dealing are bare open. Perusing through the landscape, we realise that everyone carries their own stories. What we see, as an outsider, maybe half-truths, skewed perspective, jaundiced or judgemental. We do not know the real predicament or turmoil that he is going through, but surely to a thinking person, it could be educational as we pave our own paths in the journey of life.This Made-in-Taiwan movie tells the story of an extended family who lives in an exclusive high-rise apartment in Taipei. A 40-something couple with their two school going children (a teenage girl and a pre-pubescent boy) all have their internal issues to handle. Central to all these people is the maternal grandmother who is bedridden comatose with a stroke. The father, a software engineer, has to ask the burning question if life would have been different if he had pursued the love of his life. The mother, with her ill mother in the house living her remaining days, goes through an existential crisis. The teenage daughter is caught in a love triangle, and the son is bullied in school. Amidst all these, there are the father's brother, his demanding gravid new bride and the foul-mouthed old flame; the constantly squabbling neighbours with the adulterous wife and many characters to make us realise that life is a potpourri of fragrances. After some time, our senses get too numbed with the scent that we forget that it exists. We see the garden but fail to smell the flowers.
Even if we had decided to plant a different set of flora, the ensuing outcome would surely be uniquely different but aromatic, nevertheless. What if it were left to go wild, would it be sweet smelling too?
https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson
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