Here is where “Yi Yi” starts to reveal itself as a special film — not through plot or a big dramatic scene, but by laying details on top of one another, bits of commentary and storytelling that can be missed without close attention. When Kieslowski noted the similarities to Edward Yang’s work around the time he was making the Three Colours films, this is what he meant. And when Charlotte Wells said that “Aftersun” was influenced by “Yi YI,” it’s what she was getting at as well.

The segment begins with a character we haven’t seen much of until now — the teenaged neighbor Lili, carrying a cello through the streets of Taipei. It’s always a conspicuous instrument to tote around and it looks about 75% the size of Lili. We then see Lili back at home practicing the cello. It’s nothing fancy, she seems to just be playing a scale. But the scene gives us this beautiful blue framing of the Taipei streetscape from the window in the top quarter of the screen, and there is also a small mirror on the wall of the opposing wall that gives us just a hint of that blue in reflection as well. This scene has no meaning in the film whatsoever, but it looks beautiful and sets up the next scene, so Yang keeps it in— I’m guessing most directors would have cut it.

Next, we see Lili’s mother, Mrs. Jiang, exiting her apartment and going into the hallway. We can hear NJ’s voice from inside the apartment, telling Yang-Yang to drink his milk and admonishing him that he won’t grow tall unless he drinks it. Given that NJ is often the shortest adult in every scene — and if he isn’t, he tends to slump down to make himself seem that way — he’s reflecting himself onto his son.

In the hallway, Mrs. Jiang runs into Ting-Ting. Mrs. Jiang notices the school uniform and praises Ting-Ting’s scholastic ability. Ting-Ting praises Lili’s musicianship, saying that she hears her practice often. The scene is fairly standard, but it gives off a vibe of Ting-Ting admiring her more mature neighbor Lili, while her mother wishes her daughter were more academically focused (and, perhaps, less obsessed with boys) like Ting-Ting.

Now we go to NJ’s office and get our first glimpse at what appears to be his personal hell. He’s surrounded by three colleagues, one of whom is the man who he met at the elevator when having the very uncomfortable discussion with his old girlfriend Sherry. In this scene, an investor is berating the four men for not taking advantage of some business moment they had when he first invested with them and expanding into unprofitable areas.

One of the colleagues then starts riffing on a way to turning things around, which includes getting into computer gaming and somehow connecting with a Japanese game designer named Ota. Throughout this meeting, NJ’s mind seems to be somewhere else, he’s staring off into space (perhaps thinking about Sherry?)

The scene cuts to lunch where the colleagues recap the meeting that just took place. NJ is most aggressive in being concerned, and perhaps a bit upset, that they are being pushed to rapidly shift their strategy again. He complains that they don’t even know this person Ota and are now basing their strategy on wooing him.

This transitions to another car scene and one of the most fantastic series of reflection shots that Yang inserts into the film. We see Taipei office buildings reflected back into the car, giving off a dizzying sense of capitalist chaos engulfing them. NJ mentions that they have no idea how much it will cost to bring in Ota to this plan and says definitively “I’m out.”

At this point, one of his colleagues expresses the hilarious opinion that Taipei has the world’s best copycats, why not look for someone cheaper ripping Ota off. This line is especially funny because Edward Yang took the most cavalier approach to intellectual property that I’ve ever seen from a major filmmaker. In his very first film — a short segment of a multi-part movie called “In Our Times,” Yang has the audacity to insert two Beatles songs without authorization, inviting the potential wrath of some of the most litigious protectors of IP the world has ever known. Consequently, “In Our Times” is nearly impossible to see outside of Asia, because no one wants to negotiate rights for the songs.

Yang kept up this cavalier approach to IP throughout his career. His film “A Confucian Confusion,” for example, includes a roughly 20 second segment of an NBA Playoff game from the early 1990s featuring Michael Jordan being projected in a bar where a scene is taking place. If there’s anyone in the world more protective of IP and public image than Paul McCartney, it’s MJ.

Anyway, the scene with the colleagues ends with NJ putting in earphones to block out further conversation and the colleague who ran into him with Sherry suggesting he has other things on his mind.

This makes for a very nice transition into a scene at a coffee shop featuring A-hi and his ex girlfriend Yun-Yun … set up in a rather diabolical fashion by Ting-Ting, who apparently invited A-hi for coffee without telling him that Yun-Yun would be there, then taking off when he arrived. The entire scene, by the way, is shot from the street outside the coffee shop, so we are treated to more reflections off the glass of the coffee shop while they speak.

We take from this conversation numerous tidbits — that Yun-Yun has calmed down since her invasion of the wedding reception and even advised Ting-Ting to be kind to her new aunt; that their past relationship was so serious that they actually had lots of comingled money, including investment accounts, that now need to be settled; that A-hi was likely lying to NJ about why he can now pay off his debts, it’s because Yun-Yun invested his money wisely, and finally, Yun-Yun wants A-hi to find her a new boyfriend.

And this raises another odd side point about this film — the women in “Yi Yi” all seem rather desperate to find men, while the men (who by the way, don’t seem like particularly great catches) are in absurdly high demand. And it doesn’t seem to be an economic issue, the women appear to be at least as economically successful of the men in the film.

There’s one final scene in this action-packed segment. Ting-Ting runs into Lili (again carrying her cello) on the streets and they have a short conversation. Lili asks about Ting-Ting’s grandmother and calls her “glamorous.” Ting-Ting semi-debunks that, saying she was a school teacher as her profession. Then Ting-Ting notices that Lili’s boyfriend is walking on the other side of the street. Lili at first takes it in stride, then says goodbye to Ting-Ting and crosses to meet him.

What we take from this segment is that Ting-Ting has a desire to be in the middle of all social interactions, and this instinct might eventually get her into trouble. And her dad, NJ, is balancing having strong ethical values and opinions about work … with a growing apathy about it all.