Edward Yang
Encyclopedia
Edward Yang along with Hou Hsiao-Hsien
and Tsai Ming Liang, was one of the leading filmmakers of the Taiwanese New Wave and Taiwanese Cinema
. He won the Best Director Award at Cannes
for his 2000 film Yi Yi ("A One and a Two").
, Taiwan
. After studying Electrical Engineering
in National Chiao Tung University
, he enrolled in the graduate program at the University of Florida
, where he received his Masters Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 1974. During this time and briefly afterwards, Yang worked at the Center for Informatics Research. Yang always had a great interest in film ever since he was a child, but put away his aspirations in order to pursue a career in the high-tech industry. Also, a brief enrollment at USC Film School after graduating with his M.S.E.E. convinced him that the world of film was not for him - he thought USC film school's teaching methodologies were too commercial-oriented. Yang then applied and was accepted into Harvard's architecture school, the Harvard Graduate School of Design
, but decided not to attend. Thereafter, he went to Seattle to work in microcomputers and defense software.
While working in Seattle, Yang came across the Werner Herzog
film Aguirre, the Wrath of God
(1972). This encounter rekindled Yang's passion for film and introduced him to a wide range of classics in world and European cinema. Yang was particularly inspired by the films of Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni
(Antonioni's influence has shown up in some of Yang's later works). He married Taiwanese pop-singer and music legend Tsai Chin
in May 1985. They divorced in August 1995, and he subsequently married pianist Kai-Li Peng.
was asked to direct and write a short, "Desires" (also known as "Expectation"), in the seminal Taiwanese New Wave collection In Our Time (1982). The short film was a rather poignant portrayal of a young girl's experiences through puberty.
Yang then followed that short with several of his major works. While his contemporary Hou Hsiao-Hsien
focused more on the countryside, Yang was a poet of the city, analyzing the environment and relationships of urban Taiwan in nearly all his films. His first piece, That Day, on the Beach (1983), was a fractured modernist narrative reflecting on couples and families that spliced time-lines. He followed with Taipei Story
(1985), where he cast fellow auteur Hou Hsiao-Hsien
as the lead, a former Little-League baseball star trying to find his way in Taipei, and The Terrorizers (1986), a complex multi-narrrative urban thriller
that reflected on city life and that contained the crime elements and alienation themes of an Antonioni film, that won a Silver Leopard at The Locarno International Film Festival
.
Yang then followed with A Brighter Summer Day (1991), a sprawling examination of youth-teen gangs, 1949 Taiwanese societal developments, and American pop-culture (the title was taken from an Elvis refrain); the film was considered by many critics to be a masterpiece. For A Brighter Summer Day, Yang won the FIPRESCI
Prize at The Tokyo International Film Festival
, and a Golden Horse award for Best Film. Yang then followed with the satires A Confucian Confusion
(1994) (a multi-character comedy set in urban Taiwan), which garnered a Golden Horse Award for Best Screenplay Originally Written for The Screen, and Mahjong
(1996) (a sharp, incisive reflection of modern urban-Taiwan seen through foreign eyes, which also starred several foreign actors), which won The Alfred Bauer Award at The Berlin International Film Festival
and garnered Yang a "Best Asian Director" Award at The Singapore International Film Festival
. However, Yang was most likely known for his film, Yi Yi (2000) - it was for this film that he received the Best Director
at Cannes in 2000, among other notable film awards. Yi Yi was an epic story about the Jian family seen through three different perspectives: the father NJ (Nien-Jen Wu
), the son Yang-Yang (Jonathan Chang), and the daughter, Ting-Ting (Kelly Lee). The three-hour piece started with a wedding, concluded with a funeral, and contemplated all areas of human life in-between with profound humor, beauty and tragedy.
At the 2007 Pusan International Film Festival, he won an award for Asian Filmmaker of the Year.
Also, Yang always set his works in the cities of Taiwan. As a result, Yang's films - especially A Confucian Confusion, Taipei Story, Mahjong and The Terrorizers, are commentaries on Taiwanese urban life and insightful explorations of Taiwanese urban society.
He has also collaborated with many of his fellow Taiwanese filmmakers in his films: for instance, in Yi Yi he cast as the lead well-known auteur, novelist, and screenwriter Nien-Jen Wu
, director of the award-winning Duo Sang, or A Borrowed Life, which Martin Scorsese
has cited as one of his favorite works and one of the most influential films of the 90s. He also cast fellow filmmaker Hou Hsiao-Hsien
as the lead in his 1985 film, Taipei Story
. Yang also taught Theatre and Film classes at the Taipei National University of the Arts. Several of his students showed up in his films as actors/actresses.
in 2007, but the project was cut short when Yang fell ill with cancer.
He died on June 29, 2007, at his home in Beverly Hills, as a result of complications from a seven-year struggle with colon cancer. He is survived by his wife, concert pianist Kaili Peng, and son Sean.
Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Hou Hsiao-Hsien is an award-winning film director and a leading figure of Taiwan's New Wave cinema movement.-Biography:...
and Tsai Ming Liang, was one of the leading filmmakers of the Taiwanese New Wave and Taiwanese Cinema
Cinema of Taiwan
The history of Chinese-language cinema has three separate threads of development: Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of Mainland China and Cinema of Taiwan . Taiwanese cinema grew up outside of the Hong Kong mainstream and the censorship of the People's Republic of China.Taiwanese cinema is deeply rooted...
. He won the Best Director Award at Cannes
2000 Cannes Film Festival
The 2000 Cannes Film Festival started on May 14 and ran until May 25. The Palme d'Or went to the Danish film Dancer in the Dark by Lars von Trier.-Jury:* Luc Besson, President * Jonathan Demme * Nicole Garcia...
for his 2000 film Yi Yi ("A One and a Two").
Biography
Edward Yang was born in Shanghai in 1947, and grew up in TaipeiTaipei
Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...
, Taiwan
Taiwan Province
Taiwan Province is one of the two administrative divisions referred to as provinces and is controlled by the Republic of China . The province covers approximately 73% of the territory controlled by the Republic of China...
. After studying Electrical Engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
in National Chiao Tung University
National Chiao Tung University
National Chiao Tung University is a public university located in Hsinchu, Taiwan. It is recognized as one of the most prestigious and selective universities in Taiwan and is renowned for its research and teaching excellence in electrical engineering, computer science, engineering, management, and...
, he enrolled in the graduate program at the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
, where he received his Masters Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 1974. During this time and briefly afterwards, Yang worked at the Center for Informatics Research. Yang always had a great interest in film ever since he was a child, but put away his aspirations in order to pursue a career in the high-tech industry. Also, a brief enrollment at USC Film School after graduating with his M.S.E.E. convinced him that the world of film was not for him - he thought USC film school's teaching methodologies were too commercial-oriented. Yang then applied and was accepted into Harvard's architecture school, the Harvard Graduate School of Design
Harvard Graduate School of Design
The Harvard Graduate School of Design is a graduate school at Harvard University offering degrees in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Planning and Design.-History:...
, but decided not to attend. Thereafter, he went to Seattle to work in microcomputers and defense software.
While working in Seattle, Yang came across the Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog Stipetić , known as Werner Herzog, is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and opera director.He is often considered as one of the greatest figures of the New German Cinema, along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Margarethe von Trotta, Volker Schlöndorff, Werner...
film Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Aguirre, the Wrath of God is a 1972 West German adventure film written and directed by Werner Herzog. Klaus Kinski stars in the title role. The soundtrack was composed and performed by German progressive/Krautrock band Popol Vuh...
(1972). This encounter rekindled Yang's passion for film and introduced him to a wide range of classics in world and European cinema. Yang was particularly inspired by the films of Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni
Michelangelo Antonioni
Michelangelo Antonioni, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian modernist film director, screenwriter, editor and short story writer.- Personal life :...
(Antonioni's influence has shown up in some of Yang's later works). He married Taiwanese pop-singer and music legend Tsai Chin
Tsai Chin (singer)
Tsai Chin is a pop and folk singer from Taiwan . She sings in both Mandarin Chinese and Taiwanese Hokkien and is known for her naturally magnetic rich vocals and witty persona.-Music career:...
in May 1985. They divorced in August 1995, and he subsequently married pianist Kai-Li Peng.
Films and work
Yang eventually returned to Taiwan to write the script for and serve as a production aide on a Hong Kong TV Movie, The Winter of 1905 (1981). After directing a series of television shows, Yang's break came in 1982 when hewas asked to direct and write a short, "Desires" (also known as "Expectation"), in the seminal Taiwanese New Wave collection In Our Time (1982). The short film was a rather poignant portrayal of a young girl's experiences through puberty.
Yang then followed that short with several of his major works. While his contemporary Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Hou Hsiao-Hsien is an award-winning film director and a leading figure of Taiwan's New Wave cinema movement.-Biography:...
focused more on the countryside, Yang was a poet of the city, analyzing the environment and relationships of urban Taiwan in nearly all his films. His first piece, That Day, on the Beach (1983), was a fractured modernist narrative reflecting on couples and families that spliced time-lines. He followed with Taipei Story
Taipei Story
Taipei Story is a 1985 film by Taiwanese filmmaker Edward Yang.The film stars Yang's fellow filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien, and singer Tsai Chin, who Yang subsequently married.It is one of the earliest films of the New Taiwan Cinema.-Synopsis:...
(1985), where he cast fellow auteur Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Hou Hsiao-Hsien is an award-winning film director and a leading figure of Taiwan's New Wave cinema movement.-Biography:...
as the lead, a former Little-League baseball star trying to find his way in Taipei, and The Terrorizers (1986), a complex multi-narrrative urban thriller
that reflected on city life and that contained the crime elements and alienation themes of an Antonioni film, that won a Silver Leopard at The Locarno International Film Festival
Locarno International Film Festival
The Film Festival Locarno is an international film festival held annually in the city of Locarno, Switzerland since 1946. After Cannes and Venice and together with Karlovy Vary, Locarno is the Film Festival with the longest history...
.
Yang then followed with A Brighter Summer Day (1991), a sprawling examination of youth-teen gangs, 1949 Taiwanese societal developments, and American pop-culture (the title was taken from an Elvis refrain); the film was considered by many critics to be a masterpiece. For A Brighter Summer Day, Yang won the FIPRESCI
FIPRESCI
The International Federation of Film Critics is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world for "the promotion and development of film culture and for the safeguarding of professional interests." It was founded in June 1930 in...
Prize at The Tokyo International Film Festival
Tokyo International Film Festival
Tokyo International Film Festival is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biannually from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter...
, and a Golden Horse award for Best Film. Yang then followed with the satires A Confucian Confusion
A Confucian Confusion
A Confucian Confusion is a 1994 Taiwanese comedy film directed by Edward Yang. It was entered into the 1994 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Shiang-chyi Chen - Qiqi* Yiwen Chen - Liren* Danny Deng - Larry* Hung Hung - Molly's brother-in-law...
(1994) (a multi-character comedy set in urban Taiwan), which garnered a Golden Horse Award for Best Screenplay Originally Written for The Screen, and Mahjong
Mahjong (1996 film)
Mahjong is a 1996 Taiwanese Comedy film written and directed by Edward Yang. The film stars Chang Chen, Nick Erickson and Virginie Ledoyen.-Cast and roles:*Tang Congsheng as Red Fish*Chang Chen as Hong Kong*Lawrence Ko as Lun-lun...
(1996) (a sharp, incisive reflection of modern urban-Taiwan seen through foreign eyes, which also starred several foreign actors), which won The Alfred Bauer Award at The Berlin International Film Festival
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
and garnered Yang a "Best Asian Director" Award at The Singapore International Film Festival
Singapore International Film Festival
The Singapore International Film Festival was launched in 1987. The festival is an annual film event, held around April/May each year, and screens about 300 films from over 45 countries...
. However, Yang was most likely known for his film, Yi Yi (2000) - it was for this film that he received the Best Director
Best Director Award (Cannes Film Festival)
The Best Director Award is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the 'official section' of movies at the festival. It was first awarded in 1946....
at Cannes in 2000, among other notable film awards. Yi Yi was an epic story about the Jian family seen through three different perspectives: the father NJ (Nien-Jen Wu
Nien-Jen Wu
Wu Nien-jen , Taiwan) is a famous scriptwriter, director, and author from Taiwan. He is one of the most prolific and highly regarded scriptwriters in the country and a leading member of the New Taiwanese Cinema, although he also acted in a number of films. He starred in Edward Yang's 2000 film Yi...
), the son Yang-Yang (Jonathan Chang), and the daughter, Ting-Ting (Kelly Lee). The three-hour piece started with a wedding, concluded with a funeral, and contemplated all areas of human life in-between with profound humor, beauty and tragedy.
At the 2007 Pusan International Film Festival, he won an award for Asian Filmmaker of the Year.
Themes
Yang attempted to examine the struggle between the modern and the traditional in his films, as well as the relationship between business and art, and how greed may corrupt, influence, or affect art. For that reason, many of his films (other than Yi Yi) are extremely difficult to find, since Yang did not consider selling films for money his primary purpose as an artist.Also, Yang always set his works in the cities of Taiwan. As a result, Yang's films - especially A Confucian Confusion, Taipei Story, Mahjong and The Terrorizers, are commentaries on Taiwanese urban life and insightful explorations of Taiwanese urban society.
He has also collaborated with many of his fellow Taiwanese filmmakers in his films: for instance, in Yi Yi he cast as the lead well-known auteur, novelist, and screenwriter Nien-Jen Wu
Nien-Jen Wu
Wu Nien-jen , Taiwan) is a famous scriptwriter, director, and author from Taiwan. He is one of the most prolific and highly regarded scriptwriters in the country and a leading member of the New Taiwanese Cinema, although he also acted in a number of films. He starred in Edward Yang's 2000 film Yi...
, director of the award-winning Duo Sang, or A Borrowed Life, which Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
has cited as one of his favorite works and one of the most influential films of the 90s. He also cast fellow filmmaker Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Hou Hsiao-Hsien is an award-winning film director and a leading figure of Taiwan's New Wave cinema movement.-Biography:...
as the lead in his 1985 film, Taipei Story
Taipei Story
Taipei Story is a 1985 film by Taiwanese filmmaker Edward Yang.The film stars Yang's fellow filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien, and singer Tsai Chin, who Yang subsequently married.It is one of the earliest films of the New Taiwan Cinema.-Synopsis:...
. Yang also taught Theatre and Film classes at the Taipei National University of the Arts. Several of his students showed up in his films as actors/actresses.
Legacy
In 2000, Yang formed Miluku Technology & Entertainment to produce animated films and TV shows. The first animated feature that Miluku was slated to produce was an animated feature titled The Wind with Jackie ChanJackie Chan
Jackie Chan, SBS, MBE is a Hong Kong actor, action choreographer, comedian, director, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer. In his movies, he is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons, and innovative stunts...
in 2007, but the project was cut short when Yang fell ill with cancer.
He died on June 29, 2007, at his home in Beverly Hills, as a result of complications from a seven-year struggle with colon cancer. He is survived by his wife, concert pianist Kaili Peng, and son Sean.
Features
- In Our Time (1982) - segment "Desires"/"Expectation"
- That Day, on the Beach (1983)
- Taipei StoryTaipei StoryTaipei Story is a 1985 film by Taiwanese filmmaker Edward Yang.The film stars Yang's fellow filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien, and singer Tsai Chin, who Yang subsequently married.It is one of the earliest films of the New Taiwan Cinema.-Synopsis:...
(1985) - The TerrorizersThe Terrorizers (film)-Cast:*Cora Miao as Zhou Yufeng*Lichun Lee as Li Lizhong*Shi-Jye Jin as Xiao Shen*Bao-Ming Gu as Old Gu -Critical reception:The Terrorizers is a part of the New Taiwan Cinema...
(1986) - A Brighter Summer Day (1991)
- A Confucian ConfusionA Confucian ConfusionA Confucian Confusion is a 1994 Taiwanese comedy film directed by Edward Yang. It was entered into the 1994 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Shiang-chyi Chen - Qiqi* Yiwen Chen - Liren* Danny Deng - Larry* Hung Hung - Molly's brother-in-law...
(1994) - MahjongMahjong (1996 film)Mahjong is a 1996 Taiwanese Comedy film written and directed by Edward Yang. The film stars Chang Chen, Nick Erickson and Virginie Ledoyen.-Cast and roles:*Tang Congsheng as Red Fish*Chang Chen as Hong Kong*Lawrence Ko as Lun-lun...
(1996) - Yi Yi (2000)
- The Wind (2007) (dropped)
Further reading
- John Anderson, Contemporary Film Directors: Edward Yang (University of Illinois Press 2005). See Link