#yi-yi

[thebopkabbalah]

films in september, week 2 :  Yi-Yi (2001) by Edward Yang // Matthias et Maxime (2019) by Xavier Dolan // i’m thinking of ending things (2020) by Charlie Kaufman // Pariah (2011) by Dee Rees //

[leyinyangdragon]

I can only doodle these. Sorry.

[leyinyangdragon]

A little ref to myself.

[spogwam]

Yi-Yi Frame (Romantic Drama)

My chosen frame from Edward Yang’s 2000 masterpiece Yi-Yi.

This shot shows a girl an her boyfriend embracing in the middle of a busy intersection. Vertical and horizontal rule of thirds lines draw your eye to their central positioning.

Although at first glance, this shot comes across as romantic the setting and blocking of the actors implies some tension (or drama) between them. The use of an intersection applies to these character’s relationship in the literal sense, purely emotional and relatively plutonic until this point in which they find themselves in a crossroads of intimacy.

Contextually, the girl in the frame feels as if she has been forced into the spotlight, emphasised by the harsh car headlights directed towards them. She is unsure whether she wishes to proceed into the next step of their relationship. This is conveyed through the changing of the traffic lights, once green, changing back to red as the scene concludes - her final decision. A part of her would like all of this to stop.

This balance between a more traditional romantic narrative and a more complex look at the indistinct nature of love and the way in which feelings can change in an instant allows this particular frame to perfectly represent the romantic drama genre.

[bathan-natt]

[filmarchive]

Yi-Yi (Edward Yang, 2000)

[linfish]

婆婆，對不起，不是我不喜歡跟你講話，只是我覺得我能跟你講的，你一定老早就知道了，不然你就不會每次就叫我聽話，就像他們都說你走了，你也沒有告訴我你去了哪裡，所以我覺得，那一定是我們都知道的地方。婆婆，我不知道的事情太多了，所以，你知道我以後想做什麼嗎？我要去告訴別人他們不知道的事情，給別人看他們看不到的東西，我想這樣一定天天都很好玩。說不定，有一天我會發現你到底去了哪裡，到時候我可不可以跟大家講，叫大家過來一起看你呢？婆婆，我好想你，尤其是我看到那個還沒有名字的小表弟，就會想起你常跟我說：你老了，我很想跟他說：我覺得我也老了。

《一一》 楊德昌