Popular reviews

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  Review by Rolf ★★★

  Two brothers of a Taiwanese mother and a Japanese father were separated as kids after their parent's divorce. 23 years later they meet again and deal with their troubled past...
  This tells a well-meant story about identity and family which is undermined by too much cheesy directorial choices. Like the running time of 85 minutes: less is often more.
  Still a totally watchable family drama which benefits from a solid cast and lots of on-location shots.
  Oh and damn, does Long Mizuma look like Issei Takahashi!

  Make or Break Scene: Bar confrontation.

  MVT: Taiwan.

  Score: 6/ 10

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  Review by maria ★★½

  Visually pleasing with a quiet mood and good performances (Long Mizuma has a very likeable presence despite being a brat in this) but I kept thinking that the same themes could have been explored from the two other povs, the mom's and/or the friend's (lover's ?) and probably have made for a more interesting viewing experience. Or maybe it could have delved a bit deeper...

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  Review by imanyuwel ★★★★½

  Sobrang solid ng depiction ng loneliness in not knowing where you fit. Ramdam na ramdam mo ang struggle ng pagkakaron ng two separate worlds at pagiging alien sa both. Tapos ang ganda ng resolution. Ang lala rin ng iniyak ko.

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  Review by Ty Yamamoto ★★★½

  Screened through Chicago Japan Film Collective 2021.

  Moving if a bit melodramatic at times. The conflict of identity presented here was incredibly relatable.

  Also had the chance to watch "Alone Again in Fukushima" and "The Manga Master," neither of which are here to catalogue sadly. Great festival so far, highly recommend seeing some of these films while you can!

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  Review by Achimkow ★½

  Nippon Connection #1

  
  At times, ‚Yan‘ shows signs of a decent movie. All in all it‘s nicely shot, without being outstanding in this regard. The movie’s themes, wich revolve around identity, family bonds and estrangement are promising. But these themes are miserably executed in ‚Yan‘. The main character has zero personality, the mother‘s motivation to leave a small child behind is, to put it politely, at least questionable (or more honestly: despicable). Still, the movie demands from the viewer to show understanding and compassion for the mother‚S decisions, without putting any necessary efforts to evoke these feelings. 

  ‚Yan‘ clearly wants to be a quiet, slow contemplation about personal themes. Nothing wrong with that, if it’s done competently. Wich isn‘t the case here. In the end, ‚Yan‘ is a visual sleeping pill, disguised as a movie. As that, it works just fine: I slept quite well after watching ‚Yan‘.