Edward Yang (Traditional Chinese: 楊德昌; Simplified Chinese: 杨德昌; Pinyin: Yáng Déchāng; born November 6, 1947; died June 29, 2007), along with Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Tsai Ming Liang, was one of the leading filmmakers and artists 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"), ^[1] and was honored with many other accolades from other prominent international film festivals. November 6 is the 310th day of the year (311th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Shanghai (Chinese: ; pinyin:  ; Wu (Long-short): ZÃ¥nhae; Shanghainese (IPA): ), situated on the banks of the Yangtze River Delta in East China, is the largest city of the Peoples Republic of China and the ninth largest in the world. ... is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is now the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ... The film director, on the right, gives last minute direction to the cast and crew, whilst filming a costume drama on location in London. ... Tsai Chin (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Minnan: Chhoà Khîm) is a pop and folk singer from Taiwan (her ancestral home is in Hubei). ... Traditional Chinese characters refers to one of two standard sets of printed Chinese characters. ... Simplified Chinese character (Simplified Chinese: or ; Traditional Chinese: or ; pinyin: or ) is one of two standard sets of Chinese characters of printed contemporary Chinese written language, simplified from traditional Chinese by the Peoples Republic of China in an attempt to promote literacy. ... Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ), commonly called Pinyin, is the most common variant of Standard Mandarin romanization system in use. ... November 6 is the 310th day of the year (311th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is now the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... Hou Hsiao-Hsien (Traditional Chinese: ; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Hou2 Hsiao4-hsien2) (born April 8, 1947) is an award-winning film director and a leading figure of Taiwans New Wave cinema movement. ... Tsai Ming-liang (蔡明亮, pinyin: Cài Míngliàng) (born in 1957 in Kuching, Malaysia) is one of the most celebrated film directors of the New Taiwanese Cinema, along with such contemporaries as Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Edward Yang. ... The history of Chinese-language cinema has three separate threads of development: Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of China and Cinema of Taiwan. ... Cannes Film Festival logo. ... Yi Yi: A One and a Two (Chinese: 一一) is a drama directed by Edward Yang about the struggles of a business man and the lives of his middle class Taiwanese family in Taipei seen though three generations. ...

Biography

Edward Yang was born in Shanghai in 1947, but grew up in Taipei, Taiwan. After studying Electrical Engineering in Taiwan, he enrolled in the graduate program at the University of Florida, where he received his Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science in 1974. ^[2] 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. ^[3] Thereafter, he went to Seattle to work in microcomputers and defense software. Shanghai (Chinese: ; pinyin:  ; Wu (Long-short): ZÃ¥nhae; Shanghainese (IPA): ), situated on the banks of the Yangtze River Delta in East China, is the largest city of the Peoples Republic of China and the ninth largest in the world. ... For other uses, see Taipei (disambiguation). ... Electrical Engineers design power systems… … and complex electronic circuits. ... The University of Florida (commonly referred to as Florida or UF) is a public land-grant, space-grant, research university located in Gainesville, Florida. ... A masters degree is an academic degree usually awarded for completion of a postgraduate course of one or two years in duration. ... Electrical Engineers design power systems… … and complex electronic circuits. ... Computer science, or computing science, is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their implementation and application in computer systems. ... The University of Southern Californias School of Cinema-Television is the oldest film school in the United States, established in 1929 as a joint venture with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. ... Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and a member of the Ivy League. ... The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) is a graduate school at Harvard University offering degrees in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Planning and Design. ... City nickname Emerald City City bird Great Blue Heron City flower Dahlia City mottos The City of Flowers The City of Goodwill City song Seattle, the Peerless City Mayor Greg Nickels County King County Area   - Total   - Land   - Water   - % water 369. ... Apple IIc Generally, a microcomputer is a computer with a microprocessor (µP) as its CPU. Another general characteristic of these computers is that they occupy physically small amounts of space. ...

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 concert pianist Kai-Li Peng. Werner Herzog (born Werner Stipetić on September 5, 1942) is a critically and internationally acclaimed German film director, screenwriter, actor, and opera director. ... For other uses, see Aguirre (disambiguation). ... Michelangelo Antonioni (born September 29, 1912) is an Italian modernist film director whose films are widely considered as some of the most influential in film aesthetics. ... Tsai Chin (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Minnan: Chhoà Khîm) is a pop and folk singer from Taiwan (her ancestral home is in Hubei). ...

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 he was asked to direct and write a short, "Desires" (also known as "Expectation") in the seminar Taiwanese New Wave collection In Our Time (1982). The short film is a rather poignant portrayal of a young girl's experiences through puberty.

Yang then followed that short with several of his major works. Although his contemporary Hou Hsiao-Hsien focused more on the countryside, Yang is 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 (1984), 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 alientation themes of an Antonioni film, that won a Silver Leopard at The Locarno International Film Festival. Hou Hsiao-Hsien (Traditional Chinese: ; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Hou2 Hsiao4-hsien2) (born April 8, 1947) is an award-winning film director and a leading figure of Taiwans New Wave cinema movement. ... Hou Hsiao-Hsien (Traditional Chinese: ; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Hou2 Hsiao4-hsien2) (born April 8, 1947) is an award-winning film director and a leading figure of Taiwans New Wave cinema movement. ... The Locarno International Film Festival is an international film festival held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. ...

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 is taken from an Elvis refrain)^[4]; 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 Director" Award at The Singapore International Film Festival. However, Yang is most likely known for his film, Yi Yi (2000) - it is for this film he received the Best Director at Cannes in 2000, among other notable film awards. Yi Yi 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 starts with a wedding, concludes with a funeral, and contemplates all areas of human life in-between with profound humour, beauty and tragedy. A Brighter Summer Day (Traditional Chinese: 牯嶺街少年殺人事件) is a four-hour long, 1991 Taiwanese romantic drama film directed by Taiwanese director Edward Yang. ... Popular culture, or pop culture, is the vernacular (peoples) culture that prevails in a modern society. ... Dorian Baxter (born 3 April 1950 in Mombasa Island, Kenya) is currently recognized by the Government of Ontario as the Archbishop of the Federation of Independent Anglican Churches of North America. ... FIPRESCI (short for Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique), in English known as International Federation of Film Critics, comprised of the 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... TIFF was established in 1985, and celebrates its 18th anniversary this year. ... // The Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards (臺北金馬影展) is a film festival and awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan, Republic of China. ... // The Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards (臺北金馬影展) is a film festival and awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan, Republic of China. ... Mahjong (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Pinyin: ) is a 1996 Taiwanese comic action film written and directed by Edward Yang. ... One of the A festivals in Europe. ... The Singapore International Film Festival (Chinese: 新加坡国际电影节) was launched in 1987. ... Yi Yi: A One and a Two (Chinese: 一一) is a drama directed by Edward Yang about the struggles of a business man and the lives of his middle class Taiwanese family in Taipei seen though three generations. ... Nien-Jen Wu (Wu Nien-Jen，吳念真) was born in a coal miners family on August 5, 1952. ...

Themes

Yang attempts 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 effect art. For that reason, many of his films (other than Yi Yi) are extremely difficult to find, since Yang does not consider selling films for money his primary purpose as an artist.

Also, Yang always sets his works in the cities of Taiwan. As a result, Yang's films - especially A Confucion 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 Song, 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 1984 film, Taipei Story. Yang has also taught Theatre and Film classes at the Taipei National University of the Arts. Several of his students show up in his films as actors/actresses. Nien-Jen Wu (Wu Nien-Jen，吳念真) was born in a coal miners family on August 5, 1952. ... Martin Marcantonio Luciano Scorsese (IPA: AmE: ; Ita: []) (born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, writer and producer and founder of the World Cinema Foundation. ... Hou Hsiao-Hsien (Traditional Chinese: ; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Hou2 Hsiao4-hsien2) (born April 8, 1947) is an award-winning film director and a leading figure of Taiwans New Wave cinema movement. ...

DVDs

Only one of Yang's films is widely available on DVD in the U.S. The Criterion Collection released "Yi Yi" in July 2006, vastly improving on what by all accounts was a botched 2001 release by Fox Lorber video.[1] The New York Times, a champion of the film from its film festival days, wrote a case study of the DVD's resurrection and restoration.^[5] The DVD includes commentary from Yang and the critic Tony Rayns, as well as a short history of Taiwanese cinema. Yang says of "Yi Yi": "The film is about everyday life. Perhaps it's the simplest subject matter, but sometimes the simplest ones are quite complicated."^[6] Tony Rayns is a British writer, film critic, commentator, film festival programmer and screenwriter. ...

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 entitled The Wind with Jackie Chan in 2007 but the project was cut short when he fell ill with cancer. ^[7] 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.^[8] He is survived by his wife, concert pianist Kaili Peng, and son Sean. Chan Kong-Sang (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ), also known as Jackie Chan Sing Lung (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ) or Jackie Chan SBS, (born on April 7, 1954) is a Chinese martial artist, action star, actor, director, screenwriter, film producer, singer and stunt performer. ... is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is now the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... Diagram of the stomach, colon, and rectum Colorectal cancer includes cancerous growths in the colon, rectum and appendix. ...

Filmography

Features

• In Our Time (1982) - segment "Desires"/"Expectation"
• The Day on the Beach (1983)
• Taipei Story (1985)
• The Terrorizers (1986)
• A Brighter Summer Day (1991)
• A Confucian Confusion (1994)
• Mahjong (1996)
• Yi Yi (2000)
• The Wind (2007)

Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... A Brighter Summer Day (Traditional Chinese: 牯嶺街少年殺人事件) is a four-hour long, 1991 Taiwanese romantic drama film directed by Taiwanese director Edward Yang. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar). ... Mahjong (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Pinyin: ) is a 1996 Taiwanese comic action film written and directed by Edward Yang. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... Yi Yi: A One and a Two (Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; literally one one) is an acclaimed Taiwanese film directed by Edward Yang about the emotional struggles of a business man and the lives of his middle class Taiwanese family in Taipei seen though three generations. ... 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is now the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ...

See also

• Cinema of Taiwan
• Hou Hsiao-Hsien

The history of Chinese-language cinema has three separate threads of development: Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of China and Cinema of Taiwan. ... Hou Hsiao-Hsien (Traditional Chinese: ; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Hou2 Hsiao4-hsien2) (born April 8, 1947) is an award-winning film director and a leading figure of Taiwans New Wave cinema movement. ...

References

Further reading

• John Anderson, Contemporary Film Directors: Edward Yang (University of Illinois Press 2005). See Link

External links

• Edward Yang at the Internet Movie Database
• Edward Yang at SensesOfCinema.com
• Bio by Jonathan Crowe (All Movie Guide, Yahoo Movies)
• Jonathan Rosenbaum, "Exiles in Modernity: The Films of Edward Yang" (Chicago Reader)
• Interview by Shelly Kraicer and Lisa Roosen-Runge (Cineaction)
• Interview by Duncan Campbell (Guardian UK)
• Glenn Abel, "Yang's 'Yi Yi' a celebration of life" (DVD Spin Doctor)
• Edward Yang Exhibition at MoMA
• CBS2 Report on Edward Yang's Death