The most difficult task in bringing “Yi Yi” in for a landing is reconciling NJ and Min-Min. This is especially tricky because Min-Min left after her big, dramatic scene and has been absent since. It’s also challenging because the characters didn’t leave on bad terms, just disconnected ones.

But both characters need to give an honest accounting of their lives over the span of the film for us to believe that they can go back to being a conventionally married couple.

NJ starts us off by demonstrating just how little he’s been paying attention to his own children: “Nothing’s changed here. The kids are both fine.” I guess the second statement is true in a very broad sense, but a whole lot has changed, including a murder taking place right outside of the building the night before that led their daughter to be pulled out of school and be brought in for police questioning.

It’s one of the wonderful sleights of hand that Yang plays in the film that the grandmother’s death immediately overshadows the murder, so no one in the film ever discusses it again.

But back to the bedroom discussion of the parents: Min-Min explains that her mountain retreat didn’t add up to much in her life, that it was a similar situation to what she was facing with her mother in a coma. Except in this case, she had to be the silent one listening. So she took in what the gurus told her day after day.

She said “they took turns to talk to me, the same things every time.” She concluded that “things aren’t really so complicated. Why did they ever seem so?”

This made for a nice transition into NJ’s discoveries. He told Min-Min that while she was away, he had an opportunity to relive part of his youth. He thought things might turn out differently this time, but he discovered that they turned out much the same way.

This leads to his big learning: “Even if I was given a second chance, I wouldn’t need it. I really wouldn’t.” This makes Min-Min smile and gently laugh. She nods her head.

There’s nothing dramatic in the scene. Both come to insights about their lives that seem somewhat like anti-insights (at least when judged in the contemporary therapeutic sense. Throughout the film, Yang shows an appreciation for how the things we blow up into lingering issues in our lives often aren’t based on genuine understanding. Sometimes it’s just about finding a way to let go of the nagging concerns that trouble us for no good reason.

The scene now shifts to Yang-Yang, who sits down at his desk, turns on a light, and pulls out a notebook and pen. He thinks for a moment, then starts writing.