Zui hao de shi guang (2005)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Hsiao-hsien Hou

Writers:

T'ien-wen Chu (writer)
Hsiao-hsien Hou (writer)

Release Date:

27 October 2005 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Three stories set in three times, 1911, 1966 and 2005. Two actors play the two main characters in each story.

Plot Keywords:

Singer | Photographer | Chinese | Revolution | Beatles

Awards:

4 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Qi Shu	...	May / Ah Mei / Jing
Chen Chang	...	Chen / Mr. Chang / Zhen
Fang Mei	...	Old Woman
Su-jen Liao	...	Madam / Jing's mother
Mei Di	...	May's mother / Madam
Shi-Zheng Chen	...	Haruko / Ah Mei
Lee Pei-Hsuan	...	Hostess / Micky
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yue-Lin Ko	...	(special appearance)

Directed by
Hsiao-hsien Hou

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
T'ien-wen Chu		writer
Hsiao-hsien Hou		writer

Produced by
Hua-fu Chang	....	producer
Gilles Ciment	....	co-executive producer
Wen-Ying Huang	....	executive producer
Wen-Ying Huang	....	producer
Ching-Song Liao	....	producer

Cinematography by
Pin Bing Lee

Film Editing by
Ching-Song Liao

Production Design by
Wen-Ying Huang

Sound Department
Yu Teng Hsu	....	boom operator
Du-Che Tu	....	sound

Production Companies

• 3H Films
• Orly Films
• Paradis Films
• Sinomovie

Distributors

• First Distributors (2005) (Hong Kong) (all media)
• Artificial Eye (2006) (UK) (theatrical)
• Cathay-Keris Films (2006) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Filmmuseum Distributie (2006) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• IFC Films (2006) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Hollydan Works (2005) (Serbia and Montenegro) (all media)
• Lumière Home Entertainment (2009) (Belgium) (DVD)
• Lumière Home Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• MegaCom Film (MCF) (2006) (Yugoslavia) (all media)

Also Known As:

Three Times (International: English title)
Zuei hao de shih guang (Taiwan)

Runtime:

USA:120 min | France:132 min | UK:135 min | Canada:139 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

France | Taiwan

Language:

Mandarin | Taiwanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Taiwan:PG-12 | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Singapore:NC-16 | Netherlands:AL | UK:12A | South Korea:15

Filming Locations:

Taiwan

Company:

3H Films

Trivia:

The song Rain and Tears is based on Pachelbel's Canon

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The 1966 story used the song "Rain and Tears" by Aphrodite's Child which was not released until 1968.

Soundtrack:

Rain and Tears

Flashes of Hou's brilliance

Three Times, the latest film from Taiwanese master Hou Hsiao-hsien is a lyrical, sensuous, but disappointing collection of three love stories set in 1911, 1966, and 2005. Marvelously performed by Shu Qi (Millennium Mambo) and Chang Chen, the film is both a retrospective of Hou's earlier work, a historical study of a culture, and a cogent statement about how social limitations affect each person's ability to relate. The message, however, that social restraints and modern technology hampers our ability to connect with one another is hardly new and, though depicted via Hou's gorgeous minimalism, was not enough to allow me to become emotionally involved with the characters.

Utilizing a traditional three-act structure, the mood of the film shifts from one time period to the other but the position of the women remains significant. The first segment is set in 1966 and is titled "A Time for Love". Uncharacteristically, Hou uses pop songs as background to the episode involving a chance encounter between Chen, an on-leave soldier and May, a young woman who works at various pool halls in different Taiwanese towns. The songs, repeated throughout the segment in the style of Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai, are the Platters 1959 version of the thirties love song "Smoke Gets in your Eyes" and the 1968 hit by Aphrodite's Child "Rain and Tears". Chen becomes attracted to May after returning to visit a previous pool girl to whom he had written love letters while away in service.

Both watch each other carefully across smoky pool tables but are forced to leave and the remainder of the segment follows Chen as he attempts to track May in local pool halls across Taiwan. Though the first act contains some poetic moments of mutual attraction, it is mostly teasing in its elusiveness. May and Chen rarely speak and when they do, it is mostly about snooker. Nonetheless, Hou creates an atmosphere of tension as the lovers, perhaps like Taiwan itself at this time, must choose between remaining comfortable in their status quo or taking risks to engender more intriguing possibilities.

Set in 1911, act two, "A Time for Freedom", takes place in a concubine reminiscent of Hou's beautiful but claustrophobic Flowers of Shanghai. This 35-minute segment contains no dialogue, simply intertitles as in silent films and a tinkling piano in the background. Hou's ostensible reason for using this device is that he was unable to recreate the Taiwanese spoken language of the period. Though this is understandable, I doubt if many would have noticed and the absence of dialogue for that long a period of time comes across as an affectation. In this section, the two lovers from the first segment are now reprieved as master and concubine. The master is a political activist who writes articles promoting independence and provides financial help to a concubine pupil to allow her to achieve the status of companion.

Unfortunately, he does not address the issue his concubine is most concerned about - her own personal freedom, and he remains indifferent as she expresses her longings, again perhaps reflecting the political idea that Taiwan was not capable of independence at this time. The final chapter brings us to the modern world of freeways, cellphones, and text messaging. Named "A Time for Youth", the title of this segment is steeped in irony. No longer a subtext, the lack of communication fostered by modern technology reminds us of previous films by the director that eloquently conveyed the apathetic self-indulgence of modern Taiwanese youth, Goodbye South, Goodbye and Millennium Mambo. Unlike Goodbye South, Goodbye, which employed colored filters to highlight the garishness of modern Taipei, however, the city in the current film is now dark and foreboding.

The characters are a photographer, his girlfriend, a rock singer, and her own female lover. The singer is torn between these two lovers and I was frustrated by the intrusion of the female lover who acts as a brake on a fulfilling possibility between the two main protagonists, promised in the opening two segments. Though most likely true to the director's intentions, the final section feels artificial and cold and Three Times, while bearing flashes of Hou's brilliance, comes across as a cinematic exercise, an appealing concept that is ultimately unsatisfying.