I love epic films about human emotions. Just like Magnolia and The Best Years of Our Lives, Yi Yi uses its near 3 hour runtime to showcase people and the simple lives they lead. The examination of beliefs - superstitions, hopes, plans - and how they inevitably lead us to disappointment is so great. Thankfully it's not cynical, even though the film does acknowledge how greed and evil usually prevails over goodness. If anything, it's a comforting film. It's nice to see something that doesn't hide from the disappointments of real life. We are all slaves to our ambitions, and Yi Yi is there to say it's okay when life doesn't pan out the way we wanted it to.