An ambitious but overdrawn affair, Yang’s debut feature attempts to make meaningful non-linear connections across decades of a person’s life, as a woman reconnects with a friend from the past. 

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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Out of the seven full-length films (discounting his 1981 telemovie Duckweed) that Edward Yang had made, That Day, on the Beach is, to me, his weakest.  An ambitious debut feature, its lengthy runtime is, in hindsight, already an indicator that it may turn out to be an overdrawn affair. 

Unlike his even longer Yi Yi (2000) and A Brighter Summer Day (1991), both legitimate masterworks that earn their lengths, That Day, on the Beach is easily a two-hour endeavour stretched out due to its narrative structure. 

Adopting a non-linear storytelling style that alternates between present, past and an even older childhood past, one can’t fault Yang for attempting to make meaningful connections across decades of a person’s life. 

That person, Jia Li (Sylvia Chang), is at a critical crossroads in her adulthood, facing a fairly recent personal tragedy.  When an old friend, who used to date Jia Li’s older brother, returns to Taiwan for a concert as a renowned pianist, Jia Li hooks up with the musician in a bid to reconnect. 

“Just keeping this small life going so long is something worth celebrating in itself.”

Yang takes it all in with the deliberate pacing he would be known for, tackling the key theme of marital crisis, but also the notion of fate and personal agency. 

Chang’s performance holds the film somewhat together even when Yang unnecessarily prolongs moments of stillness and contemplation, or drags it out with another flashback or two. 

I find that this style works better for films that are not heavily reliant on the backstories of important characters, but because flashbacks are the raison d’etre of That Day, on the Beach, a more ‘to the point’ storytelling approach would have made it punchier and more emotional, with less use of narration that sometimes reveal things (e.g. how a character thinks and feels about a situation) that need not be said. 

Despite the rather ‘tedious’ filmmaking on display, there is enough formal artistry to warrant serious consideration for Yang’s film to be a key work of the Taiwanese New Wave. 

Grade: B-

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