Production Budget Analysis

The production budget for Yi Yi (2000) has not been publicly disclosed.

CAST: Wu Nien-jen, Issey Ogata, Elaine Jin Yan-Ling, Kelly Lee, Jonathan Chang, Hsi-Sheng Chen DIRECTOR: Edward Yang CINEMATOGRAPHY: Yang Wei-han MUSIC: Kai-Li Peng PRODUCTION: Omega Project, Atom Films, Pony Canyon

Box Office Performance

Yi Yi earned $1,252,241 domestically and $276,526 internationally, for a worldwide total of $1,528,767. The film skewed heavily domestic (82%), suggesting strong North American appeal.

Profitability Assessment

Insufficient publicly available data to assess profitability.

INDUSTRY IMPACT

PRODUCTION NOTES

▸ Casting

Yi Yi was filmed from April 8 to August 21, 1999. Yang's script originally had the children aged 10 and 15, but Yang later found Jonathan Chang and Kelly Lee (who had never acted before). When filming began, they were 8 and 13 years old. Yang made amendments to the script accordingly.

▸ Music & Score

The piano pieces in Yi Yis soundtrack are mostly performed by Kaili Peng, Yang's wife. They include Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata and J. S. Bach's Toccata in E minor (BWV 914). Peng has a small cameo in the film as a concert cellist, playing Beethoven's Cello sonata No. 1 with her husband posing as a pianist.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Summary: 14 wins & 23 nominations total

Nominations: ○ European Film Award for Best Non-European Film (13th European Film Awards)

Additional Recognition: After debuting at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, Yi Yi collected a host of awards from international festivals. It garnered director Edward Yang Best Director at Cannes and was nominated for the Palme d'Or in the same year. Yi Yi also won the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival's Netpac Award ("For the perceptive and sensitive portrayal of a generation and cultural gap in Taiwan and the painful choices to be made in these difficult times") and the Vancouver International Film Festival's Chief Dan George Humanitarian Award. It tied with Topsy-Turvy for the 2000 Sarajevo Film Festival's Panorama Jury Award.

It won Best Foreign Film from the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics in 2001, the Grand Prix at the Fribourg International Film Festival in Switzerland in 2001, The Best Foreign Film from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards in 2000, Best Film from the National Society of Film Critics in 2001 (where Yang also won 2nd place for a Best Director Award), and Best Foreign Language Film from the New York Film Critics Circle Awards in 2000. The film was nominated for the prestigious Grand Prix of the Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics. The film also won a "Best Film – China/Taiwan" award and "Best Director" award from the 2002 Chinese Film Media Awards, a "Best Film" award at the 2001 Chinese Film Media Awards.