MovieChat Forums > Yi yi (2000) Discussion > Hommage to Stanley Kubrick

Hommage to Stanley Kubrick


Hi guys
Have you noticed that when Ting-Ting and Li-Li do the cooking, Li-Li is humming the infamous Shostakovich's waltz from Eyes Wide Shut. It was pretty obvious to me that it was an hommage to Kubrick because he died one year before Yi Yi was out.
What do you guys think? have you noticed some other tributes in this film???

My Top 20:
www.ymdb.com/pascal-plante/l30738_ukuk.html?movieUp=0089881

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Kill Bill, Magnolia, and Memento are all seriously on your top 20, or are you just pulling my chain?

Last Film I Watched:
X-Men: The Last Stand - Bret Ratner(6/10)

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Hey, you can't argue about tastes.
;p

My Top 20:
www.ymdb.com/pascal-plante/l30738_ukuk.html?movieUp=0089881

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your right, i was just asking a question, hey i recognize your name, i just answered a post of yours on Asian board or something

Last Film I Watched:
Cinderella Man - Ron Howard(7/10)

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Memento could be in anyone's Top 20. Kill Bill and Magnolia were good film, although not Top 200 or anything in my books, only I can see how people may enjoy both of them for artistic value...

just my 2 cents

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I see a lot of relationship to Italian neo-realism. If you watch Ladri di Biciclette (Bicycle Thieves), or Umberto D, by De Sica, or other movies in the genre; you see a similar slow, and observing style. The actors in the movies don't seem to be primarily professional actors, NJ is a director, Yang Yang has only done a few movies; this allows the film to have a more realistic feel. I'm watching Johnny Mnemonic right now, and it's about as realistic as flying pigs, or skiing in hell. This is a picture of life that allows you to feel for, and with, the characters that you are watching.

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I love that song and immediately recognized it, but I'm not sure if it's a hommage to Kubrick. Apparently the movie was shot around June 1999 (you can see posters of "Star Wars: Episode 1" or "Wild Wild West" on a street scene), which is a little bit before EWS was released... but you could be right, let's say it was a long shooting and Yang decided to add the song to/reshoot that scene later? Who knows...

"I did cramps the way Meryl Streep did accents" - Calliope (Middlesex)

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[deleted]

> What do you guys think? have you noticed some other tributes in this film???

The most obvious ones are of course the toys that Yang Yang has... Especially Osamu Tedzuka's Astroboy (Tetsuwan Atom). Edward named his production company after that character--"Atom Films."

And the whole Tokyo sequence is of course a tribute to Ozu, especially Tokyo Story. They even go to Atami, like the old couple in Ozu's film.

And the young boys seen in a cafe scene are Yang's self tribute on his own previous films--they are the cast of A Brighter Summer Day and Mahjong.

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That's interesting because the basic plot is similar to Eyes Wide Shut. Both movies are about people narrowly avoiding mistakes that would turn disastrous before reuniting with their family with a renewed appreciation for what they have.

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The characters in this film are not strangers to classical music (one plays an instrument, two are seen at a concert, etc.)

I can believe that it's just coincidence that this song is in Eyes Wide Shut.

Just my opinion.


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[deleted]

It's a pretty popular piece of music, but I guess it could be an homage

Better to be king for a night than schmuck for a lifetime.

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