GREAT CINEMAMASTER LIST
Menu

The Essential 713, made interactive

Find your next
great film.

Search 713 spoiler-free recommendations from 1916 to 2026. Filter by the night you want—not the list you’re supposed to finish.

Direct film viewShowing master rank #507 on its own—not above the ranking.
Refine this collection

Your canon

Back up / restore my film dataLoading your progress…Saved only in this browser
Artwork
DirectorAll directors

Most represented · 6+ films

More recurring directors · 3–5 films54
All directors · surname A–Z438
ActorAll actors

Most represented actors

Big Three membership
Major award winners

1 selected film

Master Rank balances Greatness, Engagement, and Ease. Sort by Greatness for the artistic-canon view.

Director:
Cast:
View Yi Yi film page
Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master List

Spoiler-free premise

A Taipei family's wedding, illness, first love, business strain, and childhood curiosity unfold across one eventful year.

Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free

At a Taipei wedding, middle-aged NJ reconnects with former love Sherry while wife Min-Min enters a crisis after her mother falls into a coma. Teenager Ting-Ting navigates first love, and young Yang-Yang photographs what people cannot see behind themselves.

Why it belongs

Yi Yi makes ordinary family life inexhaustible through architectural framing, patient duration, humor, and Yang-Yang's beautifully literal curiosity.

Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case

Windows, reflections, doorframes, office rooms, hospital visits, wedding and funeral rituals, and Yang-Yang's photographs hold several lives in parallel; duration lets small decisions acquire consequence without announcing themselves.

Major award record

Metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20
Cannes1 win2000 · official festival record ↗
Award for Best Director2000 · Edward YANGofficial festival record ↗

Totals include every recorded competitive win. Only Picture or top-film honors, Direction, Screenplay, and lead or supporting performances are named.

Good for
Film Club
Descriptive guidance derived from rating, genre, runtime, mood, and GCML scores.

Institutional reference ranks

Sight & Sound90IMDb Top 250—AFI 100—
Reference metadata only · not part of the 40/40/20 score

Great Cinema Master List scores

Greatness9.7
Engagement8.0
Ease6.4

Mandarin · Not Rated
Narrative Feature
Mood: Romantic & Reflective