What Time Is It There? (2001)

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

11 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Kang-sheng Lee	...	Hsiao-kang
Shiang-chyi Chen	...	Shiang-chyi
Yi-Ching Lu	...	Mother
Tien Miao	...	Father
Cecilia Yip	...	Woman in Paris
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 / Man at the Cemetery

Storyline

When a young street vendor with a grim home life meets a woman on her way to Paris, they forge an instant connection. He changes all the clocks in Taipei to French time; as he watches François Truffaut's "Les 400 Coups," she has a strange encounter with its now-aging star, Jean-Pierre Leaud.

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Plot Keywords:

taipei taiwan | urinating into a bottle | watching tv | street vendor | french | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Taiwan France

Language:

Mandarin French Min Nan English

Release Date:

26 September 2001 (France)

Also Known As:

Qi dao si bai ji

Filming Locations:

Taipei Hesien, Taiwan

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$17,142, 13 January 2002, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$193,047, 23 June 2002

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arena Films, Homegreen Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

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

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Quotes

[first lines]
Father: Hsiao Kang? Hsiao Kang?

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Connections

References The 400 Blows (1959)

User Reviews

Great Film

Films in their nature is an experience of the extroverted. We see another person suffer, we see their emotional state through actions and their facial gestures. Some films however, managed to use this extroverted medium to express introspection. 'And What Time is it there?' accomplished this perfectly. But in order to do this, the film can not be rushed. For the longer a shot can substain within a time frame but remain interesting, the longer the audience have to concentrate. In due time, the aduience have to actively think about the scene and they will somehow perform this introspection within themselves. If a film can do that to an audience, it is a masterpiece. Of course there are as many interpretations to this film as people say it is slow moving. But for me, it is a philosophical journey, where the changing of time is an indication of desires and wanting to escape. Since the protangonist can not go there, he decided to change his environment instead. But of course, we can also see this as an indication of the lack of progress in life, of wanting to turn back time and the drift into isolation and loneliness. But as we can see, this hope is trivial but its existence is necessary for one's own survival. So in an outsider's view, the actions may look irrational or pointless, but amongst the circular motions of repetition of fears and anger, it is these very action itself that gives life a purpose.