After Yang was reviewed at Sundance 2022.
PLOT: In a future world where robots are purchased as companions for children, a family’s robot, Yang, malfunctions and shuts down. While the family daughter is devastated by the loss of her beloved friend, to her father (Colin Farrell), Yang’s malfunctioning is more of an annoyance until he realizes that Yang cannot be repaired and this robotic family member is now gone forever. Then, after discovering a chip that holds Yang’s memories, he begins to realize the extent of his family’s loss.
REVIEW: After Yang is the much anticipated sophomore effort from writer-director Kogonada. A mysterious figure (whose real name is unknown), he became an arthouse darling upon the release of his film Columbus (which also played Sundance). After Yang is his ambitious follow-up, and having seen it, I’ll say this. If there’s a director out there that seems on the cusp of making a masterpiece, it’s Kogonada.
This is a gorgeous, low-key sci-fi tale that makes you think about the nature of being human. In the future world established here, humanoid robots are accepted household members, even if they don’t have the status of full-fledged human beings. The idea is that robots can’t love or make their own choices, but once Colin Farrell’s Jake gets a look at Yang’s memories, he begins to see that’s not the case. Feelings are hard to quantify in words, but once he starts reviewing the memories, which are recordings Yang decided to save, we realize that he did love the family that bought him second-hand in his way.
Farrell’s performance ranks with one of his best. A vaguely depressed tea maker who earns a meagre living while his wife (Jodie Turner-Smith) seems to bring home most of the money, he’s initially somewhat distant from his family. However, by exploring Yang’s memories, he starts to realize what he’s been missing in life while also confronting his prejudices about what it means to be human.
The world Kogonada presents here is pretty fascinating. His future world has a heavy Asian influence as far as fashion and architecture goes. We see that “homo-synthetics” have been around for decades, as have clones, which are a group some are prejudiced against. Farrell, throughout the film, has to come to terms with the fact that the man he thought of as his robotic servant was probably closer to a son than anything else, and his growing sense of empathy as the film goes on is beautifully conveyed.
The supporting cast is good too, with Turner-Smith excellent as Farrell’s loving but busy wife, while young Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja is his adopted daughter, who’s the one most devastated when Yang stops working because she’s lost a surrogate brother/parent. Justin H. Min plays Yang, with him expertly conveying the sense that Yang does indeed have an inner life and questions his place in the world. Haley Lu Richardson, who was in Kogonada’s last film, plays a local girl Yang had a connection with that went beyond friendship, making us wonder, in a world like this, is there a difference between robot and human?
It’s an interesting question to ponder because it’s easy to see After Yang’s sci-fi premise coming true at some point. We’re increasingly reliant on technology, and who knows, robot companions may be in our future, even if that notion raises all kinds of ethical and moral questions. After Yang doesn’t really concern itself with that. This is just the story of a regular family who grows attached to a companion that they don’t realize might actually love them in some fashion.
Kogonada’s often been called the American Yasujirō Ozu, and indeed, this is a contemplative tale that focuses on family above all. It’s beautifully shot, with DP Benjamin Loeb experimenting with various aspect ratios. The movie also has a gorgeous score with the main theme by Ryuichi Sakamoto that’s as warm-hearted as the rest of the film. This is one to be on the lookout for when A24 releases it in the spring. It’s contemplative, cerebral sci-fi with a profoundly human perspective on the evolving nature of technology and its place in our world.