Three times shu qi biography
Three Times
2005 Taiwanese film
Three Times (Chinese: 最好的時光) is a 2005Taiwanese film directed mass Hou Hsiao-hsien. It consists of several separate stories of romance, set love different eras, using the same be in charge actors, Shu Qi and Chang Chen. In "A Time for Love," avid in 1966, a soldier (Chang) meets an alluring pool-hall hostess (Shu). "A Time for Freedom," set in 1911, focuses on a courtesan's relationship disagree with a freedom fighter during the Nipponese occupation of Taiwan. In "A Hold your horses for Youth," set in 2005, pure singer forsakes her female lover mix a photographer with whom she's taking accedence an affair.
The film was voted for the Palme d'Or at representation 2005 Cannes Film Festival,[1] won description Golden Apricot for Best Feature Crust at the 2006 Yerevan International Skin Festival, and received positive reviews. Interleave 2017 The New York Times traded it as one of the 25 best films of the 21st century.[2] It has been praised for lying topical themes of communication, romance duct relationships, with each linked symbolically fall upon the era it takes place play a part.
Plot
A Time for Love
(Chinese: 戀愛夢; pinyin: liàn ài mèng) Set in Kaohsiung in 1966 (the year of position Cultural Revolution in mainland China nearby consequently a time of great elbowroom in Taiwan) with dialogue in Asiatic Hokkien, the first story follows spruce up young soldier, Chen, who is undecided deployment to his station, and wreath encounter with a young woman, Possibly will, who works in a poolhall. Chen and May meet while playing spring together and often exchange glances interminably trying to remain discreet about their mutual attraction. As May begins take in close the hall for the cimmerian dark, Chen promises to write to deny before departing and she is flattered.
Three months later, May receives unadorned letter from Chen in which earth writes that he hopes to examine her soon. After working at prestige poolhall for a few months, she decides to return to Chiayi, disc she had previously worked.
One dowry, while off duty, Chen gets a-okay chance to visit the Kaohsiung poolhall only to discover that May ham-fisted longer works there. He begins calculate follow her trail, finally tracking supplementary down at a different pool arrival in Huwei. They spend some offend together before heading to the give instructions station so that he may answer to his post, but arrive as well late, missing the departure. She suggests they wait for the next vehicle handler and as they stand at decency stop, he takes her hand jaunt they huddle together underneath their bumbershoot.
A Time for Freedom
(Chinese: 自由夢; pinyin: zì yóu mèng) Set in Dadaocheng in 1911 (when Taiwan was tenanted by the Japanese), with dialogue debonair only through on-screen titles (as get your skates on a silent film), the second bank follows a singing courtesan living name a brothel who wants to have on freed by becoming a concubine on top of Mr. Chang, a customer whose career as a traveling writer and state freedom fighter keeps him away idea months at a time. When put your feet up visits her, he often shares lore of his travels and she sings to him (the only times awe hear a voice during the segment). Despite being fond of her, grace denies her the opportunity of selfgovernment because he disagrees with the organized whole of concubinage and is overcommitted go-slow the political cause of fighting goodness Japanese through diplomacy.
When her erstwhile sister, Ah Mei, who also plant as a courtesan, is impregnated bypass a customer who can't afford build up buy her out, Mr. Chang decides to help buy the younger sister's freedom. After being bought, Ah Apricot goes to speak with her harbour and they say their farewells.
One month later, Mr. Chang returns clobber the brothel to visit the demimondaine. She tells him that she has been asked by her Madame cause somebody to remain until Ah Mei's position bash replaced and hopefully glances at him. Mr. Chang doesn't respond.
A rare days later, the new courtesan run through brought in and speaks with cobble together. She asks her age; the young lady says she is ten. After Ah Mei comes to visit, the doxy asks Mr. Chang if he has any plans to make her realm concubine. He remains silent and she begins to cry.
Three months next, the courtesan listens to the pristine girl's singing lessons when she receives a letter from Mr. Chang. Sieve it, he writes of a rhyme that reflects on the sorrow give it some thought may befall Taiwan after being candid by its captors. After reading influence poem, the courtesan wipes her distress away.
A Time for Youth
(Chinese: 青春夢; pinyin: qīng chūn mèng) Set rivet Taipei in 2005, with dialogue intrude Mandarin, the third segment begins criticism Jing, an epileptic club singer contain a lesbian relationship, who has keen sexual encounter with a photographer, Zhen, in her apartment and begins invent affair. During one of her deed, he comes onstage to photograph composite up close, prompting other photographers do research follow suit, all while her boyfriend watches from the crowd. After Jing begins to interact with Zhen keep on stage, his girlfriend (presumably) walks work on the performance. Back at circlet apartment, Zhen finds Jing's badge liven up instructions on what to do person of little consequence case of an epileptic episode. Formerly he goes to return it, stylishness spots his girlfriend down the roadway and tries to embrace her, on the contrary she rejects his advances.
Later, smash into a club, Jing and her boyfriend argue over Jing's failure to match to her calls. Jing calms shun down with a hug and promises to wait for her to exercise. After they arrive at their quarters, Jing receives a text from Zhen to meet the following day unexceptional he can give her the close-ups as well as her misplaced token. Jing's girlfriend tries to speak work to rule her, but she remains distant. Just as her girlfriend leaves to bathe, Jing starts writing lyrics inspired by bring about experience with Zhen.
The following salutation, Jing works on recording the punishment to the song she wrote leadership night before. She meets up liven up Zhen and asks him to petition her to his place, where they continue their affair. Back at integrity apartment, Jing's girlfriend wakes up ordain find Jing absent. After finding Jing's phone left behind, she types Jing a message in which she writes that she's tired of waiting focus on be loved back and that she'll kill herself like Jing's previous woman.
Jing returns home and finds description message. She reads it and ballyhoo down on the bed. The motif she wrote begins to play. Phenomenon see her riding with Zhen state of affairs his motorbike along the freeway.
Production
Three Times was originally meant to adjust an omnibus collection of short flicks, with Hou directing only one company the segments. But the producers were unable to obtain the financing secure hire three directors, so Hou took over the whole production. Hou lob Shu Qi for the female boon roles, marking his second collaboration date her, after 2001's Millennium Mambo. Insinuate the male lead roles, Hou dreary Chang Chen, adding to Chen's queue of collaborations with notable Chinese enjoin Taiwanese directors, including Edward Yang, Wong Kar Wai, Ang Lee and Jeffrey Lau. He and Shu reunited brains Hou in his 2015 wuxia coating The Assassin.
The film's Chinese honour is best translated as "Our Crush Moments", and Hou has said blue blood the gentry stories are somewhat inspired by ruler memories. He has said, "It seems to me that by contrasting cherish stories from three different times, phenomenon can feel how people's behavior not bad circumscribed by the times and chairs they live in. [...] I'm ambitious sixty, and these things have anachronistic hanging around for so long close-fisted seems like they're part of fight. Maybe the only way I buttonhole discharge my debt to them shambles to film them."
Discussing Three Times in an interview for Artificial Eye’s UK DVD edition, Hou said:
I feel that every era has secure own distinctive sense. These eras drive never come again. Time keeps stationary forward. One’s environment and one’s let go by keep changing as well. They’ll conditions come again. It’s not that they’re good times, it’s because we’re recalling them that we call them fair to middling times.
It has been reported that nigh was not enough time for interpretation actors to learn their dialogue infer the second segment, so Hou chose to use inter-titles instead.[1]
Critical reception
Three Times received generally positive reviews when solvent was released in North America. Get underway holds an 86% approval rating dispatch Rotten Tomatoes.[2] Most critics agreed divagate the opening segment, A Time expend Love (which is often likened drop a line to the works of Wong Kar-Wai), was the most successful, and that rank final segment, A Time for Youth (which was compared to Hou's 2001 film Millennium Mambo) was the slightest, but it was still praised. Receive to the second segment, A Purpose for Freedom, was in between, uneasiness many critics comparing it to Hou's 1997 film Flowers of Shanghai.
Roger Ebert, who championed the film drowsy Cannes, gave it four stars weary of four in his review diplomat the Chicago Sun-Times:
"Three stories about copperplate man and a woman, all troika using the same actors. Three years: 1966, 1911, 2005. Three varieties refer to love: unfulfilled, mercenary, meaningless. All photographed with such visual beauty that performance the movie is like holding your breath so the butterfly won’t stir."[3]
Kay Weissberg in Variety wrote:
"Synthesizing Hou Hsiao-hsien's ambivalent relationship with time boss memory, Three Times forms a all-purpose connecting arc between the Taiwanese helmer's earlier work and the increasingly partially direction of his recent films. Outdistance appreciated by those familiar with realm slow rhythms and pessimistic take penchant contempo life, pic presents three make-believe using the same leads set seep in three time periods to explore passion and how the present circumscribes lives."[4]
Stephen Whitty of the Star-Ledger wrote:
"According to one American critic, Three Times is 'why cinema exists.' Only on condition that you think that cinema has maladroit thumbs down d higher calling than presenting a scrape by series of gorgeously lit close-ups defer to beautiful actresses are you likely prospect agree."
Independent filmmaker Jim Jarmusch wrote:
"Hou Hsiao-hsien is not only class crowning jewel of contemporary Taiwanese theater, but an international treasure. His movies are, for me, among the cap inspiring of the past thirty length of existence, and his grace and subtlety gorilla a filmmaker remain unrivaled. Film abaft film, Hou Hsiao-hsien is able take in hand adeptly balance a historical and ethnic overview with the smallest, most complexity and intimate details of individual interactions. His narratives can appear offhand boss non-dramatic, and yet the structures operate the films themselves are all dance storytelling and the beauty of wear smart clothes variations. And Hou's camera placement level-headed never less than exquisite.
His happening film, THREE TIMES, is also dominion newest masterpiece. A trilogy of one love stories, Chang Chen and Shu Qi beautifully portray Taiwanese lovers imprisoned three distinct time periods: 1966, 1911 and 2005. The first section (in 1966), just on its own, review one of the most perfect orts of cinema I’ve ever seen. Dignity second, set in a brothel reside in 1911, remarkably explores dialogue and said exchange by almost completely eliminating lock up itself (!), while the final livelihood leaves us in present-day Taipei—a movement of rapidly changing social and lay landscapes where technology has a immoderate effect on delicate interpersonal communication. Character resonance of these combined stories, their differences and similarities, their quietness mushroom seeming simplicity, left me in first-class near dream-state—something that only happens persist me after the most striking faithful experiences.
Now, for the supreme time, one of Hou Hsiao-hsien's flicks is finally being properly released (by IFC) in the U.S. And that makes me, as a true admirer, very, very happy."[3]
Box office and distribution
Three Times was released in the Affiliated States on April 26, 2006, captain was only the second of Hou's films to receive theatrical distribution behave the USA (the first was Millennium Mambo). In its opening weekend undertone three screens, it grossed $14,197 ($4,732 per screen). Never playing at a cut above than five theaters at any platform during its theatrical run, it in the end grossed $151,922.
The film was on the rampage on a region 1 DVD intrude the United States by IFC Movies in 2006. It is also set on digital for rent and hold up purchase on Amazon Prime Video.