Yi Yi and The Terrorizers would be the best depending on which day you ask me. Out of the 4 Yang films I’ve seen, Taipei Story is my least favourite but it’s still a very strong film
Really glad to see you cover this film, I think it's underrated. I like the point about Edward Yang perhaps having a weakness at directing actors, but being most skilled in constructing complexity and technical execution. I think that is his architectural mind at work, and I always felt a strong presence of that aspect in most of his films. It is particularly strong in Taipei Story, in which the effects of rapid urbanization and the changes to the way of life that entails (on self concept and relationships with others being key in that film, among other things) seems to play a strong undercurrent. Btw, my reading of the "Confucian" part of the title was the way modernity (very broad term, but you know, market forces, globalization, consumerism, increased emphasis placed on individuality and ambitious pursuits, and so on...) clashes with the Confucian legacy in Taiwanese society (then more "Chinese" then it is today, as you allude to). The social change is happening so fast, it's creating a clash in the psyche, hence the "confused" (childish, erratic) behavior of most everyone in the film. However, this might be a relatively superficial and straightforward reading that is missing a lot of nuance. I saw the movie 3 or so years ago, I'll also pay more attention to the "Confucian" aspect when I watch the film again.
I also noticed what you noticed on his films, that he doesn't do exposition. In fact, he doesn't follow typical narrative, or at least distort it in some way, such where he puts conflict, drama, confrontation, and so on. It's all jumbled up, unlike most films where there are structure. And you are right, he does this to achieve realism. One thing to note, is Yang spent time in US, probably exposed with it's entertainent industry, say like NBA and MLB, and especially Hollywood. And what's common between those three, are spectacle, and ultimately, that is what he avoids in his films to achieve realism. He never heightens the moment, but he does it very subtley, and that has a profound effect, even better than heightening the moment. And basically, for my understanding, the film Confucian Confusion is a breakaway for his ideas and beliefs. The movie is a mockery towards himself, or on the principle "Art for Art Sake", and "Art with a Purpose". He belongs on the latter, and the movie is him criticizing himself, because he believes art should only be with purpose, or "Cure" as what the novelist character in that movie call which is very funny, and the movie is also him coming to terms that movie belonging in category "Art for Art Sake" are just as essential, and this is the reason why the film is so different with the rest of his movies. It is a combination of the two principle. It is very entertaining, super funny, yet at the same time, has purpose. I haven't watched all of his films, such mahjong and his two great masterpiece, and you may be right that he does have good actors rather than him nurturing them, but at the same time, I think the the bad acting on Confucian Confusion are intentional or he never bothers to fix it, as the movie are made to resemble elements from average, cringey taiwanese films, whose main purpose are solely for entertainment, and that is to add to it's comedy. To add, while I was watching the film, I noticed Qiqi resembled someone, and finally realizes she was made to look like Audrey Hepburn. The persona she showed outside, was the Audrey Hepburn on film, but her true self, which is different from what she showed outside, is the Audrey Hepburn in real life, and that was a fascinating duality, and duality is very present on this film, such as hypocrisy which is one of the main theme. And Qiqi also resembles amelie, and they almost have the same personality. I know Amelie has some inspiration from Chunking Express, but maybe this film also inspired Amelie.
What’s you favorite Edward Yang film? What’s your least favorite?
Yi Yi and The Terrorizers would be the best depending on which day you ask me. Out of the 4 Yang films I’ve seen, Taipei Story is my least favourite but it’s still a very strong film
Confucian confusion is the best. But all of his films are masterpieces.
I love all of Yang’s films but my favorite is A Brighter Summer Day and least favorite is That Day, on the Beach.
Really glad to see you cover this film, I think it's underrated. I like the point about Edward Yang perhaps having a weakness at directing actors, but being most skilled in constructing complexity and technical execution. I think that is his architectural mind at work, and I always felt a strong presence of that aspect in most of his films. It is particularly strong in Taipei Story, in which the effects of rapid urbanization and the changes to the way of life that entails (on self concept and relationships with others being key in that film, among other things) seems to play a strong undercurrent. Btw, my reading of the "Confucian" part of the title was the way modernity (very broad term, but you know, market forces, globalization, consumerism, increased emphasis placed on individuality and ambitious pursuits, and so on...) clashes with the Confucian legacy in Taiwanese society (then more "Chinese" then it is today, as you allude to). The social change is happening so fast, it's creating a clash in the psyche, hence the "confused" (childish, erratic) behavior of most everyone in the film. However, this might be a relatively superficial and straightforward reading that is missing a lot of nuance. I saw the movie 3 or so years ago, I'll also pay more attention to the "Confucian" aspect when I watch the film again.
I also noticed what you noticed on his films, that he doesn't do exposition. In fact, he doesn't follow typical narrative, or at least distort it in some way, such where he puts conflict, drama, confrontation, and so on. It's all jumbled up, unlike most films where there are structure. And you are right, he does this to achieve realism. One thing to note, is Yang spent time in US, probably exposed with it's entertainent industry, say like NBA and MLB, and especially Hollywood. And what's common between those three, are spectacle, and ultimately, that is what he avoids in his films to achieve realism. He never heightens the moment, but he does it very subtley, and that has a profound effect, even better than heightening the moment. And basically, for my understanding, the film Confucian Confusion is a breakaway for his ideas and beliefs. The movie is a mockery towards himself, or on the principle "Art for Art Sake", and "Art with a Purpose". He belongs on the latter, and the movie is him criticizing himself, because he believes art should only be with purpose, or "Cure" as what the novelist character in that movie call which is very funny, and the movie is also him coming to terms that movie belonging in category "Art for Art Sake" are just as essential, and this is the reason why the film is so different with the rest of his movies. It is a combination of the two principle. It is very entertaining, super funny, yet at the same time, has purpose.
I haven't watched all of his films, such mahjong and his two great masterpiece, and you may be right that he does have good actors rather than him nurturing them, but at the same time, I think the the bad acting on Confucian Confusion are intentional or he never bothers to fix it, as the movie are made to resemble elements from average, cringey taiwanese films, whose main purpose are solely for entertainment, and that is to add to it's comedy.
To add, while I was watching the film, I noticed Qiqi resembled someone, and finally realizes she was made to look like Audrey Hepburn. The persona she showed outside, was the Audrey Hepburn on film, but her true self, which is different from what she showed outside, is the Audrey Hepburn in real life, and that was a fascinating duality, and duality is very present on this film, such as hypocrisy which is one of the main theme. And Qiqi also resembles amelie, and they almost have the same personality. I know Amelie has some inspiration from Chunking Express, but maybe this film also inspired Amelie.