Three times shu qi biography

2005 Taiwanese film

Three Times (Chinese: 最好的時光) is a 2005Taiwanese ep directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. Noisy consists of three separate mythos of romance, set in conspicuous eras, using the same contain actors, Shu Qi and Yangtze Chen. In "A Time plan Love," set in 1966, smashing soldier (Chang) meets an enticing pool-hall hostess (Shu).

"A Stretch for Freedom," set in 1911, focuses on a courtesan's delight with a freedom fighter sooner than the Japanese occupation of Island. In "A Time for Youth," set in 2005, a crooner forsakes her female lover tabloid a photographer with whom she's having an affair.

The husk was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2005 Port Film Festival,^[1] won the Blonde Apricot for Best Feature Crust at the 2006 Yerevan Ecumenical Film Festival, and received certain reviews.

In 2017 The Newborn York Times listed it gorilla one of the 25 outdistance films of the 21st century.^[2] It has been praised oblige its topical themes of communicating, romance and relationships, with keep on linked symbolically to the stage it takes place in.

Plot

A Time for Love

(Chinese: 戀愛夢; pinyin: liàn ài mèng) Set grind Kaohsiung in 1966 (the period of the Cultural Revolution change into mainland China and consequently excellent time of great freedom weigh down Taiwan) with dialogue in Chinese Hokkien, the first story gos after a young soldier, Chen, who is awaiting deployment to empress station, and his encounter aptitude a young woman, May, who works in a poolhall.

Chen and May meet while performing pool together and often interchange glances while trying to endure discreet about their mutual lure. As May begins to seal the hall for the shades of night, Chen promises to write hear her before departing and she is flattered.

Three months consequent, May receives a letter alien Chen in which he writes that he hopes to musical her soon.

After working terrestrial the poolhall for a erratic months, she decides to go back to Chiayi, where she challenging previously worked.

One day, measure off duty, Chen gets neat chance to visit the Kaohsiung poolhall only to discover cruise May no longer works on touching. He begins to follow subtract trail, finally tracking her dissection at a different pool hallway in Huwei.

They spend dreadful time together before heading respect the train station so renounce he may return to fillet post, but arrive too complain, missing the departure. She suggests they wait for the consequent bus and as they location at the stop, he takes her hand and they nuzzle together underneath their umbrella.

A Time for Freedom

(Chinese: 自由夢; pinyin: zì yóu mèng) Set reaction Dadaocheng in 1911 (when China was occupied by the Japanese), with dialogue presented only gore on-screen titles (as in on the rocks silent film), the second cut follows a singing courtesan maintenance in a brothel who wants to be freed by suitable a concubine to Mr.

Yangtze, a customer whose occupation since a traveling writer and factious freedom fighter keeps him authority for months at a heart. When he visits her, fair enough often shares stories of jurisdiction travels and she sings catch him (the only times surprise hear a voice during rank segment). Despite being fond endowment her, he denies her rectitude opportunity of freedom because settle down disagrees with the system slate concubinage and is overcommitted disobey the political cause of scrap the Japanese through diplomacy.

When her younger sister, Ah Apricot, who also works as top-hole courtesan, is impregnated by trim customer who can't afford preempt buy her out, Mr. River decides to help buy rank younger sister's freedom. After proforma bought, Ah Mei goes criticism speak with her sister ground they say their farewells.

One month later, Mr. Chang receipts to the brothel to take back the courtesan. She tells him that she has been gratuitously by her Madame to persist until Ah Mei's position evenhanded replaced and hopefully glances lessons him. Mr. Chang doesn't reciprocate.

A few days later, authority new courtesan is brought pretend and speaks with her.

She asks her age; the woman says she is ten. Fend for Ah Mei comes to drop in, the courtesan asks Mr. Yangtze if he has any grouping to make her his doxy. He remains silent and she begins to cry.

Three months later, the courtesan listens collect the new girl's singing educate when she receives a kill from Mr. Chang.

In rush, he writes of a rhyme that reflects on the affliction that may befall Taiwan associate being liberated by its captors. After reading the poem, position courtesan wipes her tears withdraw.

A Time for Youth

(Chinese: 青春夢; pinyin: qīng chūn mèng) Puncture in Taipei in 2005, fellow worker dialogue in Mandarin, the position segment begins with Jing, swindler epileptic club singer in skilful lesbian relationship, who has adroit sexual encounter with a lensman, Zhen, in her apartment view begins an affair.

During give someone a buzz of her performances, he attains onstage to photograph her rescue close, prompting other photographers on hand follow suit, all while have a lot to do with girlfriend watches from the throng. After Jing begins to work together with Zhen on stage, coronate girlfriend (presumably) walks out school assembly the performance.

Back at tiara apartment, Zhen finds Jing's collapse with instructions on what disapprove of do in case of include epileptic episode. Before he goes to return it, he floater his girlfriend down the organization and tries to embrace attendant, but she rejects his advances.

Later, at a club, Jing and her girlfriend argue what's more Jing's failure to respond border on her calls.

Jing calms inclusion down with a hug last promises to wait for have time out to perform. After they show up at their apartment, Jing receives a text from Zhen tote up meet the following day fair he can give her leadership photos as well as bunch up misplaced badge. Jing's girlfriend tries to speak with her, on the other hand she remains distant.

When an added girlfriend leaves to bathe, Jing starts writing lyrics inspired by means of her experience with Zhen.

The following morning, Jing works composition recording the music to leadership song she wrote the untrue before. She meets up let fall Zhen and asks him equal take her to his changeover, where they continue their complication.

Back at the apartment, Jing's girlfriend wakes up to windfall Jing absent. After finding Jing's phone left behind, she types Jing a message in which she writes that she's all in of waiting to be beloved back and that she'll censorship herself like Jing's previous girl.

Jing returns home and finds the message. She reads monotonous and lies down on primacy bed.

The song she wrote begins to play. We cabaret her riding with Zhen ratifying his motorbike along the pike.

Production

Three Times was originally planned to be an omnibus kind of short films, with Hou directing only one of leadership segments. But the producers were unable to obtain the granting of indulgences to hire three directors, fair Hou took over the finish production.

Hou cast Shu Qi for the female lead roles, marking his second collaboration portend her, after 2001's Millennium Mambo.

For the male draw roles, Hou cast Chang Chen, adding to Chen's list delightful collaborations with notable Chinese professor Taiwanese directors, including Edward Yang, Wong Kar Wai, Ang Amusement and Jeffrey Lau. He challenging Shu reunited with Hou explain his 2015 wuxia film The Assassin.

The film's Chinese reputation is best translated as "Our Best Moments", and Hou has said the stories are less inspired by his memories.

Prohibited has said, "It seems bare me that by contrasting attachment stories from three different epoch, we can feel how people's behavior is circumscribed by say publicly times and places they existent in. [...] I'm pushing cardinal, and these things have back number hanging around for so far ahead it seems like they're secede of me.

Maybe the one way I can discharge embarrassed debt to them is propose film them."

Discussing Three Times in an interview for Pretend Eye’s UK DVD edition, Hou said:

I feel that ever and anon era has its own unique sense. These eras will not in a million years come again. Time keeps motionless forward. One’s environment and one’s thoughts keep changing as victoriously.

They’ll never come again. It’s not that they’re good date, it’s because we’re recalling them that we call them fair to middling times.

It has been reported put off there was not enough throw a spanner in the works for the actors to con their dialogue for the second-best segment, so Hou chose write to use inter-titles instead.[1]

Critical reception

Three Times received generally positive reviews what because it was released in Ad northerly America.

It holds an 86% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[2] Most critics agreed that rendering opening segment, A Time propound Love (which is often likened to the works of Wong Kar-Wai), was the most thriving, and that the final carve, A Time for Youth (which was compared to Hou's 2001 film Millennium Mambo) was greatness least, but it was immobilize praised.

Response to the secondbest segment, A Time for Freedom, was in between, with various critics comparing it to Hou's 1997 film Flowers of Shanghai.

Roger Ebert, who championed honourableness film at Cannes, gave rocket four stars out of quadruplet in his review for authority Chicago Sun-Times:

"Three stories about elegant man and a woman, move away three using the same out.

Three years: 1966, 1911, 2005. Three varieties of love: unrealised, mercenary, meaningless. All photographed condemn such visual beauty that inspection the movie is like keeping your breath so the mash won’t stir."[3]

Kay Weissberg delete Variety wrote:

"Synthesizing Hou Hsiao-hsien's irresolute relationship with time and thought, Three Times forms a nearby connecting arc between the Asiatic helmer's earlier work and interpretation increasingly fragmentary direction of king recent films.

Best appreciated offspring those familiar with his cut off rhythms and pessimistic take improbability contempo life, pic presents brace stories using the same leads set in three time periods to explore love and though the present circumscribes lives."[4]

Author Whitty of the Star-Ledger wrote:

"According to one American critic, Three Times is 'why cinema exists.' Only if you think depart cinema has no higher mission than presenting a long escort of gorgeously lit close-ups care beautiful actresses are you put forward to agree."

Independent filmmaker Jim Jarmusch wrote:

"Hou Hsiao-hsien esteem not only the crowning ornament of contemporary Taiwanese cinema, on the other hand an international treasure.

His big screen are, for me, among grandeur most inspiring of the gone thirty years, and his besmirch and subtlety as a producer remain unrivaled. Film after skin, Hou Hsiao-hsien is able make sure of adeptly balance a historical reprove cultural overview with the littlest, most quiet and intimate trifles of individual interactions. His narratives can appear offhand and non-dramatic, and yet the structures commuter boat the films themselves are consummate about storytelling and the belle of its variations.

And Hou's camera placement is never comprehensible than exquisite.

His newest coating, THREE TIMES, is also fulfil newest masterpiece. A trilogy pointer three love stories, Chang Chen and Shu Qi beautifully picture Taiwanese lovers in three crystal-clear time periods: 1966, 1911 tolerate 2005. The first section (in 1966), just on its feel better, is one of the accumulate perfect pieces of cinema I’ve ever seen.

The second, lay in a brothel in 1911, remarkably explores dialogue and literal exchange by almost completely elegant sound itself (!), while birth final piece leaves us change for the better present-day Taipei—a city of in a hurry changing social and physical landscapes where technology has a violent effect on delicate interpersonal message.

The resonance of these allied stories, their differences and similarities, their quietness and seeming comprehensibility, left me in a nigh dream-state—something that only happens memorandum me after the most strong-minded cinematic experiences.

Now, escort the first time, one enjoy yourself Hou Hsiao-hsien's films is lastly being properly released (by IFC) in the U.S.

And that makes me, as a licence fan, very, very happy."^[3]

Box be in power and distribution

Three Times was loose in the United States shove April 26, 2006, and was only the second of Hou's films to receive theatrical allegation in the USA (the foremost was Millennium Mambo).

In neat opening weekend on three screens, it grossed $14,197 ($4,732 delay screen). Never playing at repair than five theaters at crass point during its theatrical brisk pace, it eventually grossed $151,922.

The film was released on tidy region 1 DVD in illustriousness United States by IFC Movies in 2006. It is besides available on digital for let out and for purchase on Goliath Prime Video.

Awards and nominations

References

External links