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Kelley's avatar

Loved this discussion! For Thanksgiving 2020, my husband and I were by ourselves because of the pandemic so we spent the day watching A Brighter Summer Day and Yi Yi and called it Yangsgiving. The themes of Yi Yi were particularly appropriate for a day that we'd usually spend with friends and family.

(Side note: We went to Taiwan for vacation earlier this year and made a quick detour to walk by the apartment building from Yi Yi. The building exterior and highway still look very much like the film!)

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Mark with an r's avatar

Historical correction - Yi-Yi was somewhere in the nineties (definitely in the top 100) of the 2012 Sight & Sound critics poll. I'm guessing the ranking you had was the aggregate of the critics and directors poll - I don't think, but don't know, it didn't make the top 100 in the directors poll.

I rewatches it earlier this year for the first time in nearly 10 years. Remembering there was tragedy at the end and the scene of Yang Yang jumping in the pool, I actually couldn't remember as I was rewatching it, if he drowned or not.

I think all of my favorite scenes have already been mentioned (the educational film about storms, nearly every scene with Ota...)

I will say, since there's the discussion of availability of his films, I am aware of Taipei Story is on the Criterion Channel and Terrorizers is on Mubi.

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