Although Yi Yi (2000) is often regarded as one of the greatest Taiwanese films ever made, it was not officially released to the public in Taiwan until 2017.
Mr. Ota's (Issei Ogata) English dialogue was re-written and even improvised during the shooting by Ogata himself. Edward Yang wanted to have his Japanese character speaking realistically, not in the stereotypical manner Japanese characters in English-speaking films often do.
Chosen by British film magazine "Sight and Sound" in 2002 as one of the ten greatest films of the past 25 years.
Chosen by "Les Cahiers du cinéma" (France) as one of the ten best pictures of 2000 (#7, tied with The Virgin Suicides (1999)).