In Kogonada’s directorial debut, “Columbus,” he explored the “modernism of the soul,” through the architecture of Columbus, Indiana, and the unique connection between two strangers seeing each other, and themselves, against the backdrop of the environments they share. In his second feature film, “After Yang,” Kogonada once again takes up the question of the soul and its existence in modern, even postmodern, times. But while “Columbus” was an exploration of the soul in a space, “After Yang” takes up the question of the soul throughout time.
Kogonada adapted “After Yang” from the short story "Saying Goodbye to Yang" from the book “Children of the New World” by Alexander Weinstein, and the film takes place in a near future that looks a bit different, but functions in the same way. This sleekly modern world is informed by East Asian aesthetics, food and culture, and the advanced technologies are familiar: FaceTime, self-driving cars, video games, animated photo snippets. It is a world so close we might reach out touch it, and with the warm, comfortable production design by Alexandra Schaller and gauzy cinematography by Benjamin Loeb, Kogonada makes the film an almost tactile experience.
Colin Farrell and Jodie Turner-Smith play Jake and Kyra, the parents of young daughter Mika (Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja), adopted from China. There’s another very important member of their family, Yang (Justin H. Min), a lifelike android powered by artificial intelligence. Jake and Kyra purchased Yang (a refurbished model) as a sibling companion for Mika, to feel connected to her Chinese heritage, and Yang has served as a gentle, knowledgeable, loyal and loving brother, as well as a trusted guide through her culture, and to help Mika understand that difference is what makes something special.
It’s during the family’s nightly networked video game dance competition that they notice Yang malfunctioning, and in a desperate bid to save him, Jake travels to every service and repair center in town, on a quest that has an expiration date, as Yang’s body will soon start to break down. At a back alley repair shop, the paranoid technician offers to extract the interior core that holds the recordings stored in Yang’s consciousness, paranoid about spyware. But as Jake starts to delve into these recordings, he finds only loving snippets of memory, as well as evidence that Yang might have been in love, sending him on another quest to find the girl (Haley Lu Richardson) from the brief moments that flash before his eyes.
The question of whether or not artificial intelligence can love is the central conceit of “After Yang,” but that’s never really in question, especially as we get to know Yang, through his own memories and through the ways that the family remembers him. Rather, “After Yang” is a uniquely contemplative exploration of grief and loss, and how memory moves through us over time and generations. In Kogonada’s vision of the future, the androids are not inhuman, but as human as we are, a beautifully optimistic perspective on artificial intelligence.
Colin Farrell, the movie star with the saddest eyes in the business, proves to be the perfect actor to inhabit and express Kogonada’s bittersweet musings on the joys and challenges of existence. Jake is a tea merchant, and his practice with tea is somewhat of a meditation, requiring patience and thoughtfulness as the brew steeps to perfection. In “After Yang,” Kogonada performs a similar practice, crafting a beautifully contemplative film with a thrilling potency of emotion that sneaks up on you, its effect lasting long after the film is over.
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‘AFTER YANG’
4 stars (out of 4)
MPAA rating: PG (for some thematic elements and language)
Running time: 1:36
Where to watch: In theaters and on Showtime Friday
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