In That Day, on the Beach and Taipei Story, we see the economic side of Taiwan and realize 'Oh, that's how Taiwan's society came to be this way.' In A Confucian Confusion and Mahjong his use of irony is even more cutting. "Non-Chinese critics have said that Yang's later movies are reminiscent of Woody Allen's work.
分析楊德昌的作品，影評人黃建業說，「他對社會角度的切入確實鋒芒畢露，從《海灘的一天》到《青梅竹馬》，我們看到台灣的經濟面貌，原來台灣社會是這樣走過來的。