“Wow!” That is what I said as the screen went black and the credits rolled following Edward Yang’s three hour penultimate film. I was a admittedly a bit skeptical going into the film as I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed a super long family drama. Family dramas are usually hit or miss with me. I love Yasujiro Ozu’s family drama films such as Floating Weeds and Late Spring. But they aren’t three hours long. However the high praise for this film put it on my list of movies to see. I wasn't disappointed.
The film chronicles the members of a family in living in Taipei in the late 90s over the course of a period of time beginning with a family wedding and ending in a funeral. There are three protagonists in the film, the father, his teenage daughter, and his eight year old son. Throughout the film each character goes through experiences that shape their psyche’s and their outlooks on lives.
From start to finish this film never drags or looses the deliberate pace that it sets in the opening scenes. It touches on all the emotions that one experiences in all their lives. I felt happy at times, I felt angry, I felt heartbroken, I felt uncomfortable. Every character was believable and they would deal with the same emotional dramas that we can experience throughout the course of our lives. The film is about how we has humans react and deal with the world around us.
This amazingly acted, beautifully shot, gripping movie was one of the best that I have seen in a long time.
OK now respond and let me know how full of shit I am.