Film
Three Times
- Director
- Hou Hsiao-Hsien
- Certificate
- 12A
- Running Time
- 135 mins
A treat for arthouse traditionalists, this 2005 film from lauded Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-Hsien is a triptych of tales set in 1911, 1966 and 2005. They’re presented out of chronological sequence and have the same two actors portraying three very different relationships. Those for whom the description ‘poetic’ sets alarm bells ringing may also wish to note that it begins painfully slowly, there’s very little dialogue, and the storytelling is often confused. But it’s undeniably nice to look at, with Mark Lee Ping-Bin’s stylish cinematography giving each segment a distinctive feel.
Story one, A Time for Love, is set in Kaohsiung in 1966. Chen (Chang Chen) is a shy chap who falls for glamorous pool-hall hostess May (Shu Qi) after they play long games of billiards together, depicted almost in real time. A Time for Freedom unfolds in Dadaocheng in 1911 and at least demonstrates a little formal experimentation. This time Chang Chen is a republican activist who helps a beautiful courtesan (Shu Qi) by paying to have a concubine released from her contract, which has unforeseen consequences. This section apes the silent movie format, with a piano score and inter-titles instead of dialogue, although the performances are subtle and restrained. Finally, in 2005 Taipei, A Time For Youth has Shu Qi as a nearly blind, epileptic nightclub singer who cheats on her lesbian lover with a photo lab worker (yep, Chang Chen again). The style is suitably gaudy and modern.
The director has said his casting is intended to evoke “a three-times reincarnation of an unfinished love”, and his film can be read as a not-entirely-approving account of the changing face of courtship. But with each story given equal weight, the boring and inconsequential ones seem needlessly drawn out, while the interesting middle section lacks room to breathe. Trivia fiends may wish to note that the song accompanying the first episode is Rain and Tears, an atypical single by toga-clad, France-based Greek trio Aphrodite’s Child, pop history’s most bizarre prog-rock band, which numbered Vangelis and Demis Roussos among its members. This was actually released in 1968, two years after the segment is set, and became the soundtrack to the Paris student riots. It’s that kinda useless knowledge that wins you pop quizzes.
It’s back on screen on the Watershed’s In the Mood for Barry Jenkins Sunday brunch season, exploring the work of, and key influences on, the director of Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk.
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