A Brighter Summer Day (1991)
The even longer epic by Edward Yang has more straightforward plot with focus on fewer characters than the more loose narrative in Yi Yi. Weirdly though, it made me like Yi Yi more as didn’t find this as interesting, but it has other qualities. The depiction of 1960s Taiwan is fully realized and very convincing. The cinematography is more interesting to look at and the the historic background gave greater insight into Taiwan and its people. But while Yi Yi didn’t really have much of a story, and this does, I was just not super invested in the whole gang drama. I can see how it is a perfectly tragic build up to the ending, which is well executed on all parameters. I just don’t think it really warranted the runtime, which I think Yi Yi did. Glad I watched Yi Yi first as I might not have seen it if I had seen this one first.
Rating: 3