Yolo

Yolo_360P

10/10

Yolo_720P

Honestly it was better than expected. It was sincere, touching, and relevant (especially for watching on international women's day). As a new director, Ling's YOLO and her previous film as a tribute to her mom are both in great quality in terms of story line, acting, and executing. Even this movie has flaws, she has adopted her storyline perfectly into the Chinese context from the original Japanese one and made it even more convincing with her hard work losing 100 grams within a year. It was a tearful moment at the end of the film seeing the director's journey training for boxing and weight loss. So glad that more Chinese films are played in New York.

A Genuine and Touching Story! This film not only brings laughter to the audience but also delivers a profoundly moving journey of personal growth. Jia portrays Le Ying's inner world with depth and authenticity. I could feel her struggles and pain, as well as her gradual rediscovery of self. The film's humor flows naturally, effortlessly diffusing tense moments while bringing joy and delight to the audience's viewing experience. One of the most impressive aspects of the film is the depiction of boxing scenes. Jia collaborated with professional boxers to shoot breathtaking long takes, adding a sense of realism to the film and enhancing the dramatic tension of the character's growth and challenges. While the film's marketing may have misled some to believe that weight loss is its central theme, in reality, weight loss is just one of the actions Le Ying takes to pursue her dreams. The film's focus lies more on Le Ying's transformation from a girl beaten down by life to a woman who finds her voice and follows her dreams. Honestly, it's about YOLO, not just boxing or lost weight. After all, YOLO is a film filled with emotional resonance. Through a genuine and touching story, it prompts audiences to reflect deeply on life, dreams, and growth. Jia not only demonstrates excellent directing and acting skills but also conveys positive energy and warmth to the audience, making it a worthwhile watch.

The advertisement for this movie touched me, but I felt disappointed with the characters after I saw the movie, and it was more suitable for the director Ling Jia to write a book than making a movie. It described a woman who was hurt by her environment, including family/friends/work. And then she decided to be brave, although one time. Maybe I bowed the idea of seeing the change in Ling Jia, so I did not find the current difficulty during the story. The most touching character of the movie was her sister felt astonished by her sister being assisted to finish the competition. At least, the decision she made was really rare in our century.

My friend said it's a motivational weight-loss film, and the focus of her boyfriend and male friends is also on weight loss and motivation, as well as regretting not winning the final boxing match. However, the theme of this movie is definitely not weight loss, and winning or losing doesn't depend on a boxing match. For example, when the protagonist Leying decided to participate in the boxing match and told the gym owner, "I want to participate in a boxing match," the owner said, "Oh, you want to lose weight." Leying firmly said, "No, I want to participate in a boxing match." Another example is when Leying, after slimming down from boxing, had dinner with her father. Her father looked at her and said, "You seem different." Leying said, "I lost weight." Her father replied, "No, you've changed." These two dialogues clearly show that the protagonist's goal is not weight loss but bravely pursuing her passion, such as boxing. In the process of loving her life, she learns to love herself, gains strength, and it's not about her appearance changing but about her inner spirit growing. Another part that shows this is not a weight-loss themed movie, and it's also the first scene that brought tears to my eyes, is when Leying walks past the mirror before going on stage for the competition, seeing her past, larger self gently looking at her current self. Then Leying smiles brightly at her past self, this being the first time the protagonist genuinely smiles in the movie. Also, when watching the behind-the-scenes footage at the end, Jia Ling, who directed the film, cried during the filming of this scene. If this were a weight-loss themed movie, most of it would show the protagonist self-loathing her past overweight self. However, this is a movie about "loving oneself" Whether it's the past or present self, both can provide self-power and deserve to be loved. This is the touching aspect of self-identification and self-growth.

This movie is from female director's perspective, which is very precious. As you may know, most Chinese films are directed by male directors, and feature all about men. This movie is so Different. It's like a first step towards movie w/ a more women's angle. This movie isn't about losing weight, rather, it's about how to love yourself how to put yourself at the first position before anyone else even your parents your relatives your friends. This movie has laughters and tears at the same time. This is a very good movie that is suitable for the whole family to watch. I myself am a feminist, and I think this is a movie that needs our encouragement because this movie features a woman, and it's all about her. In previous movies directed by male directors actresses are usually optional like they can be replaced by anything even a lamp which won't affect the main story which is so awful.

First of all, WE NEED MORE FEMALE DIRECTORS. I waited for this movie to come to theatres in Canada, and I was pleasantly surprised and touched by it. I'm not gonna go too in-depth with the storyline itself, that's a treasure for you to discover. What really surprised me was, that the female director of this movie, Jia Ling, despite this being only her second film, has filmed this with such delicacy and nuance, and all of the significant characters in this movie were DYNAMIC. No flat characters, no filler NPCs, and every important role had its own storyline. Typically, movies that are labelled as "comedy" and "motivational" are almost destined to have a great happy ending, where everyone is happy and all complexities are resolved or forgiven - not in this one. Each character has their depth, their strengths and weaknesses. No one in this film is perfect, but none of them are flat. I've seen TONS of characters in men-directed films that are important, but are just boring and flat. Viewers leave the theatre only remembering them as "that mean girl", "the pretty one", etc. Women in this film aren't "pretty", "mean", "skinny/chubby", there are so many sides given to each of the significant characters, they are more than a label. The scenery and settings were so nice and delicate as well. The things that are neglected in a lot of films, were all caught on camera in this film. If you haven't watched it, you really should, it's worth a watch, 'cuz I'm gonna watch it again.

I feel that the underlying message of this movie is very inspiring...and not at all revolve about body image/body shaming or something like that...it's a beautiful story about how an introvert girl found meaning in her dull life through discovering her liking for boxing..her body transformation was the part of the process...she worked insanely hard to achieve her goals and finally achieved it (though on her own ways)..the ending was so realistic..she was not the winner of the boxing match that she played against the professional fighter, but a winner in conquering her insecurities.............