Yi Yi (Chinese: 一一; pinyin: Yī Yī; literally "one one"; subtitled A One and a Two) is a 2000 Taiwanese drama film written and directed by Edward Yang. The story focuses on the challenges faced by an engineer named NJ, played by Wu Nien-jen, and three generations of his middle-class Taiwanese family in Taipei.

The film's title means "one by one" or "one after another." When written vertically, the two strokes in the title look similar to the character for "two": 二.

Yi Yi premiered on May 14, 2000, at the 53rd Cannes Film Festival. At this event, Edward Yang received the Best Director Award. The film has been widely praised and is often considered one of the greatest films of the 21st century.

Plot

The Jian family, which includes father NJ, mother Min-Min, daughter Ting-Ting, and son Yang-Yang, lives in Taipei as a middle-class household. At the wedding of Min-Min’s younger brother, A-Di, NJ meets his former girlfriend, Sherry, who gives him her phone number before leaving. Sherry is married to an American and lives in Chicago. After the wedding, Min-Min’s mother, who lives with the family, has a stroke and falls into a deep sleep. She is placed on life support, and doctors ask the Jians to speak to her every day.

NJ is unhappy with his job, and his company is having financial problems. To win over a client named Mr. Ota, his coworkers ask him to take Ota to dinner, which he agrees to reluctantly. They get along well, and NJ takes Ota to a bar where Ota sings and plays the piano. Later that night, NJ calls Sherry and apologizes for leaving her suddenly 30 years ago. Meanwhile, Min-Min becomes sad about her mother’s condition and goes to a quiet Buddhist retreat far from home.

After a failed investment, A-Di is forced to leave the family home and asks his former girlfriend, Yun-Yun, for help. A-Di is allowed to return after his child is born, but a fight happens at the baby shower when Yun-Yun arrives uninvited. A-Di and his wife reconcile after she finds out he passed out due to a gas leak at their home.

Ting-Ting feels guilty because her grandmother collapsed while doing a task Ting-Ting was supposed to complete. She becomes friends with her new neighbor, Lili. After Lili ends her relationship with her boyfriend, Fatty, he starts sending letters for Lili through Ting-Ting. Fatty becomes interested in Ting-Ting and asks her out. After their second date, they stay in a hotel room but decide not to continue. Later, Ting-Ting sees Lili and Fatty back together and is later scolded by Fatty. Ting-Ting becomes sad and talks to her grandmother, asking her to wake up. The next day, she learns that Fatty has been arrested for killing Lili’s teacher, who had a romantic relationship with both Lili and her mother. At home, Ting-Ting dreams of being comforted by her grandmother.

Yang-Yang stops speaking to his grandmother because he believes she cannot hear him. He starts taking photographs. As punishment for skipping school to buy film, Yang-Yang is made to stand facing a wall while his teacher shares his photos with classmates. Later, after seeing the girl who bullies him (because she likes him) swimming, Yang-Yang teaches himself to swim to learn more about her.

NJ is sent by his company to Tokyo to continue discussions with Mr. Ota. Sherry also travels to Japan. The two meet again and talk about their past. Sherry is still hurt by NJ’s sudden departure, and NJ tries to fix their conflict. They visit another city and stay in a hotel, but when NJ refuses Sherry’s request to start a new life together, she criticizes him and breaks down. They return to Tokyo and go back to their separate rooms. Before leaving, NJ tells Sherry he has never loved anyone else. The next day, NJ is told by a coworker that the company has secured a deal with another client and that he must return to Taipei immediately. He scolds his coworker for abandoning Mr. Ota. Later, NJ checks on Sherry’s room and finds out she has already left.

After Min-Min’s mother passes away, Min-Min returns home and reunites with her family. At the funeral, NJ’s coworker urges him to return to work, but he refuses. In front of her mother’s shrine, Yang-Yang recites a heartfelt speech. He shares memories of his grandmother, his hope to find where she went, and his wish to “tell people what they don’t know, show them what they can’t see.” He ends his poem by saying his newborn cousin reminds him of his grandmother, who always said, “I am old too,” just as he now wants to say.

Cast

Wu Nien-jen plays the role of NJ.
Elaine Jin plays the role of Min-Min.
Kelly Lee plays the role of Ting-Ting.
Jonathan Chang plays the role of Yang-Yang.
Issey Ogata plays the role of Mr. Ota.
Chen Hsi-Sheng plays the role of A-Di.
Su-Yun Ko plays the role of Sherry.
Chang Yu Pang plays the role of Fatty.

Production and casting

The movie Yi Yi was filmed from April 8 to August 21, 1999. The original script planned for children who were 10 and 15 years old. However, the director, Yang, later chose Jonathan Chang and Kelly Lee, who had no acting experience. At the time filming began, they were 8 and 13 years old. Yang adjusted the script to match their actual ages.

Reception

Yi Yi is a film that received high praise from critics. On the website Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 97%, based on 91 reviews. The site’s summary says the film "accurately and expertly captures the themes and details, as well as the beauty, of everyday life." On Metacritic, which calculates an average score, the film has a score of 94 out of 100, based on 25 reviews.

A. O. Scott of The New York Times wrote that the film made him feel a mix of grief, joy, and gratitude. Kenneth Turan of The Los Angeles Times described it as a "delicate but strong" film that shows how happiness and sadness are connected. J. Hoberman of The Village Voice called it a "lucid, elegant, nuanced, humorous melodrama" and praised the director for handling family problems with care. David Denby of The New Yorker said the film’s story grows slowly but becomes powerful by the end.

After its first showing at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, Yi Yi won many awards. It received the Best Director award at Cannes and was nominated for the Palme d’Or. It also won the Netpac Award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival for its sensitive portrayal of cultural differences in Taiwan. The film received the Chief Dan George Humanitarian Award at the Vancouver International Film Festival and tied with Topsy-Turvy for the Sarano Film Festival’s Panorama Jury Award.

Yi Yi won the Best Foreign Film award from the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics in 2001 and the Grand Prix at the Fribourg International Film Festival in 2001. It also received the Best Foreign Film award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association in 2000 and the Best Film award from the National Society of Film Critics in 2001. Edward Yang, the director, won second place for Best Director at the same event. The film was also honored by the New York Film Critics Circle for Best Foreign Language Film in 2000.

Yi Yi was nominated for the Grand Prix of the Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics. It won awards such as "Best Film – China/Taiwan" and "Best Director" from the 2002 Chinese Film Media Awards and "Best Film" from the 2001 Chinese Film Media Awards. Many well-known publications and critics, including The New York Times, Newsweek, USA Today, and The Village Voice, named Yi Yi one of the best movies of 2001. A. O. Scott, Susan Sontag, and other critics called it "

Home media

The film can be found on The Criterion Collection. It includes a new digital version that has been restored, along with a DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition. The Blu-ray also features audio commentary from the film's director, Yang, and Asian film critic Tony Rayns.

In September 2025, Janus Films released a new high-quality version of the film for showing in movie theaters. The Criterion Collection released this restored version in January 2026.

Soundtrack

The piano music in the movie Yi Yi is mainly played by Kaili Peng, who is married to the film's director, Yang. The pieces include Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata and J. S. Bach's Toccata in E minor (BWV 914). In the film, Peng briefly appears as a cellist performing Beethoven's Cello Sonata No. 1. Her husband plays the piano during this scene, pretending to be a pianist.