Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV News
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsABFFPride MonthOutfest OutfrontsSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

What Time Is It There?

Original title: Ni na bian ji dian
  • 2001
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 56m
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
5.2K
YOUR RATING
Shiang-chyi Chen and Kang-sheng Lee in What Time Is It There? (2001)
Home Video Trailer from Wellspring
Play trailer2:27
2 Videos
15 Photos
DramaRomance

A watch salesman meets a young woman soon leaving for Paris and becomes infatuated, so he begins to change all the clocks in Taipei to Paris time.A watch salesman meets a young woman soon leaving for Paris and becomes infatuated, so he begins to change all the clocks in Taipei to Paris time.A watch salesman meets a young woman soon leaving for Paris and becomes infatuated, so he begins to change all the clocks in Taipei to Paris time.

  • Director
    • Ming-liang Tsai
  • Writers
    • Ming-liang Tsai
    • Pi-ying Yang
  • Stars
    • Kang-sheng Lee
    • Shiang-chyi Chen
    • Yi-Ching Lu
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    7.3/10
    5.2K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Ming-liang Tsai
    • Writers
      • Ming-liang Tsai
      • Pi-ying Yang
    • Stars
      • Kang-sheng Lee
      • Shiang-chyi Chen
      • Yi-Ching Lu
    • 31User reviews
    • 66Critic reviews
    • 79Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 11 wins & 8 nominations

    Videos2

    What Time Is It There?
    Trailer 2:27
    Watch What Time Is It There?
    What Time Is It There?
    Trailer 1:26
    Watch What Time Is It There?

    Photos15

    Shiang-chyi Chen and Kang-sheng Lee in What Time Is It There? (2001)
    Yi-Ching Lu in What Time Is It There? (2001)
    Kang-sheng Lee in What Time Is It There? (2001)
    Kang-sheng Lee in What Time Is It There? (2001)
    Tien Miao in What Time Is It There? (2001)
    What Time Is It There? (2001)
    Yi-Ching Lu in What Time Is It There? (2001)
    What Time Is It There? (2001)
    What Time Is It There? (2001)
    Jean-Pierre Léaud and Cecilia Yip in What Time Is It There? (2001)
    Kang-sheng Lee in What Time Is It There? (2001)
    What Time Is It There? (2001)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Kang-sheng Lee
    Kang-sheng Lee
    • Hsiao-kang
    Shiang-chyi Chen
    Shiang-chyi Chen
    • Shiang-chyi
    Yi-Ching Lu
    Yi-Ching Lu
    • Mother
    Tien Miao
    Tien Miao
    • Father
    Cecilia Yip
    Cecilia Yip
    • Woman in Paris
    Chao-jung Chen
    Chao-jung Chen
    • Man in Subway Station
    Kuei Tsai
    • Prostitute
    • (as Guei Tsai)
    Arthur Nauzyciel
    • Man at Phone Booth
    David Ganansia
    • Man at Restaurant
    Chao-yi Tsai
    • Clock Store Owner
    Kuo-Cheng Huang
    • Fat Boy
    Jean-Pierre Léaud
    Jean-Pierre Léaud
    • Jean-Pierre…
    Quail Youth-Leigh
    • Vendor's customer
    • (as Lee Yo-hsin)
    • Director
      • Ming-liang Tsai
    • Writers
      • Ming-liang Tsai
      • Pi-ying Yang
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    The Hole
    7.5
    The Hole
    The River
    7.2
    The River
    The Wayward Cloud
    6.5
    The Wayward Cloud
    Vive L'Amour
    7.4
    Vive L'Amour
    I Don't Want to Sleep Alone
    6.9
    I Don't Want to Sleep Alone
    Rebels of the Neon God
    7.6
    Rebels of the Neon God
    Goodbye, Dragon Inn
    7.1
    Goodbye, Dragon Inn
    Stray Dogs
    6.9
    Stray Dogs
    The Skywalk Is Gone
    6.9
    The Skywalk Is Gone
    Days
    6.6
    Days
    Visage
    6.0
    Visage
    Sand
    7.6
    Sand

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The sequence in the cinema takes place in the same venue as Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003), and uses some of the same shots.
    • Quotes

      Woman in Paris: Oh, Taiwan. I've been there. It's fun.

    • Connections
      Features The 400 Blows (1959)

    User reviews31

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    9/10
    Understanding WHAT TIME IS IT THERE? (Part2)
    (...continued from Part1)

    The most significant encounter, of course, was with the young woman heading to Paris, the "there" in What Time is it There? I believe she is a ghost and her contact with Xiao Kang and the exchange of the watch is somehow responsible for his peculiar behavior and experiences. If France can be taken to be a metaphor for death or the "otherworld," then Xiao Kang's strange fascination with all things French can be seen as his desire to understand his father's death. Viewing an old French film becomes a way to catch a glimpse of the "otherworld" where his father might be. Drinking French wine may be yet another method to reach the trance-like state that facilitates communication with his father.

    Tsai explores the various avenues of communication between the living and the dead. He shows the Buddhist rituals, the food offerings, burning ghost money, etc., intended to establish contact or at least help the deceased. He shows how non-spiritual ways such as memories, mementos, and imagination are all employed to keep that person "alive." Xiao Kang's tampering with time is his idiosyncratic approach. We even see him using an antenna, a communication device, to adjust a giant clock. In return for these efforts the deceased is expected to communicate to the living by way of signs or in dreams. We see Xiao Kang crying in his sleep-perhaps a visitation by his father in such a dream. His mother desperately looks for signs of her husband's return, even if it's only as a cockroach or a fish.

    Tsai points out in this film that contacting the dead is a difficult and frustrating endeavor only leading to more suffering. He adds that the dead are having an equally difficult and frustrating time communicating with us. Moreover, they are having trouble adjusting to their new reality-at least until reincarnation occurs. The young woman in Paris is seen wandering aimlessly and communicating only with difficulty with the Parisians. Her aborted telephone calls can be seen as attempts to contact the living, probably loved ones. There is evidence that these loved ones are somehow getting through to her; the snack plate she nibbles on in her hotel room uncannily resembles food offerings to the dead. The overwhelming feeling we get from her experience is that of frustration and profound sadness. Her exhaustion and eventual collapse may indicate her resigned acceptance of death.

    Xiao Kang's father though appears to be farther along in the process. He seems calm and sure in his actions. His struggle appears over. His walking toward the Ferris wheel is deliberate, reincarnation imminent. The film ends here on this hopeful note.

    What Time is it There? has much in common with Tsai Ming-Liang's earlier films. He again explores the difficulty in communicating or establishing connections with others. Only this time he included the dead in his universe and in the process created a rich and mysterious work. Despite an elliptical and metaphoric structure, and despite an imperfect understanding of Buddhist philosophy, upon reflection the meaning of What Time is it There? emerges slowly but surely.
    helpful•37
    4
    • pjrdct
    • Feb 8, 2002

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 26, 2001 (France)
    • Countries of origin
      • Taiwan
      • France
    • Languages
      • Mandarin
      • French
      • Min Nan
      • English
    • Also known as
      • What Time Is It Over There?
    • Filming locations
      • Taipei Hesien, Taiwan
    • Production companies
      • Arena Films
      • Homegreen Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $195,760
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $27,936
      • Jan 21, 2002
    • Gross worldwide
      • $265,477
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 56 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Shiang-chyi Chen and Kang-sheng Lee in What Time Is It There? (2001)
    Top Gap
    By what name was What Time Is It There? (2001) officially released in India in English?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.