Yang Yang

Dir. Cheng Yu-chieh
Starring: Sandrine Pinna,
Taiwan, 2009, 112 mins.

The hardships accompanying coming of age are tackled in Cheng Yu-chieh’s new drama.

The film follows Yang Yang, portrayed by Taiwanese indie favorite Sandrine Pinna, whose Eurasian looks are incorporated into the plot of the film. With her mom’s remarriage, Yang Yang finds herself competing with her half sister Xiao-ru both on the track and in their love lives. When Yang Yang betrays Xiao-ru, a series of events begins to unfold, leading the sisters down separate roads.

Pinna delivers a sensitive and complicated portrayal of the title character, as do all of the young actors in the film. However, there were many moments that were lost in translation, enough times that a handful of the audience left during the screening. I personally found it difficult to connect with the emotions or reasoning of the characters, but perhaps in a film about adolescence, that was the point.