MovieChat Forums > Yi yi (2000) Discussion > Overrated. Doesn't stand out.

Overrated. Doesn't stand out.

posted 11 years ago by Zoomorph
7 replies | jump to latest

While this glossy, mellow character drama is certainly not bad, it doesn't stand out midst a sea of similar films with similar plots, themes, tones and pace, many of them similarly Asian. It's an engaging story with some nice camera work and believable characters, but it fails to deliver anything remarkable or new. In the final analysis it feels lackluster, shallow and too heavily polished. Great films, in my opinion, need to preset something raw, unique, fresh and challenging. This film is merely average.

~ Observe, and act with clarity. ~

[–] arkast 11 years ago

Pretty much spot on.
This needed more scenes with less duration. Most of the time it feels too wooden and cold. Nice depiction of life but emotionless most of the time

[–] IEatWords 10 years ago

It's slightly overrated but is still pretty decent to watch. I like that it isn't pretentious, which is what ruins these type movies for me, and there's far too many of those out there. This movie is simple, has some drama and plays out like a long family drama with quite a few average scenes but also some pretty good ones as well. It never reaches much of a climax but I'm not sure it was aiming to. Nice film, but not one to make a grand statement, and for the subject matter it didn't need to.

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[–] enigma-lake 9 years ago

So spill some of the greats we should all be viewing. Many don't even know of this film. As apparent by the boards little activity.

[–] guccipix 8 years ago

I disagree. I think it's masterful. What's a film in the same vein that you consider better? I'd say the American equivalent is something like Short Cuts but that has way more groups of characters, so not quite.

[–] ben-grieve 8 years ago

Lost in Translation comes to mind for me because of the setting, relationships, pacing, and cinematography. There are probably better examples of actual American hyperlink cinema. I haven't seen Short Cuts yet, so that might indeed be a good comparison.

[–] guccipix 8 years ago

Yeah it reminds me of Lost in Translation as well

[–] SlackerInc (1101) 7 years ago

I agree. It's uneven, with some very nice scenes, but overlong and way overrated.