Three Times
Encyclopedia
Three Times is a 2005
Taiwan
ese film directed by Hou Hsiao-Hsien
. It features three chronologically separate stories of love between May and Chen, set in 1911, 1966 and 2005, using the same lead actors, Shu Qi
and Chang Chen
.
The film was nominated for the Palme d'Or
at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival
and received positive reviews.
directing only one of the segments. The producers were unable to rustle the financing to be able to hire three directors, so instead, Hou took over production.http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=cannes2005&content=review&reviewid=VE1117927202&categoryId=1724
: 戀愛夢; pinyin
: liàn ài mèng) Set in Kaohsiung
in 1966, with dialogue in Taiwanese Hokkien.
: 自由夢; pinyin
: zì yóu mèng) Set in Dadaocheng
in 1911, with dialogue presented only through on-screen captions.
: 青春夢; pinyin
: qīng chūn mèng) Set in Taipei
in 2005, with dialogue in Mandarin.
) was the least successful. Response was somewhat mixed for the second segment, A Time for Freedom, with many critics likening it to Hou's Flowers of Shanghai
.
Roger Ebert
, who championed the film at Cannes
, gave it four stars in his review for the Chicago Sun-Times
:
Kay Weissberg in Variety
was very positive:
Stephen Whitty of the Star-Ledger was not impressed:
Jim Jarmusch
:
to receive theatrical distribution in the USA (the first was Millennium Mambo
). In its opening weekend on three screens, it grossed $14,197 USD ($4,732 per screen). Never playing at more than five theatres at any point during its theatrical run, it eventually grossed $151,922 USD in total.
2005 in film
- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2005...
Taiwan
Cinema of Taiwan
The history of Chinese-language cinema has three separate threads of development: Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of Mainland China and Cinema of Taiwan . Taiwanese cinema grew up outside of the Hong Kong mainstream and the censorship of the People's Republic of China.Taiwanese cinema is deeply rooted...
ese film directed by Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Hou Hsiao-Hsien is an award-winning film director and a leading figure of Taiwan's New Wave cinema movement.-Biography:...
. It features three chronologically separate stories of love between May and Chen, set in 1911, 1966 and 2005, using the same lead actors, Shu Qi
Shu Qi
Shu Qi is the stage name of a Taiwanese actress born Lin Li-Hui . Her stage name is occasionally romanized as Hsu Chi or Shu Kei . Her name is sometimes seen in the Western order as Qi Shu.-Early life:...
and Chang Chen
Chang Chen
Chang Chen is a Taiwanese actor, born in Taipei, Taiwan. His name is sometimes seen in the Western order . He is the son of a Taiwanese actor Chang Kuo Chu and brother of a Taiwanese actor, Chang Han .-Career:...
.
The film was nominated for the Palme d'Or
Palme d'Or
The Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du...
at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival
2005 Cannes Film Festival
The 2005 Cannes Film Festival started on May 11 and ran until May 22. Twenty movies from 13 countries were selected to compete. The awards were announced on May 21...
and received positive reviews.
Background
Three Times was originally meant to be an omnibus collection of short films, with Hou Hsiao-hsienHou Hsiao-Hsien
Hou Hsiao-Hsien is an award-winning film director and a leading figure of Taiwan's New Wave cinema movement.-Biography:...
directing only one of the segments. The producers were unable to rustle the financing to be able to hire three directors, so instead, Hou took over production.http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=cannes2005&content=review&reviewid=VE1117927202&categoryId=1724
A Time for Love
(ChineseChinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
: 戀愛夢; pinyin
Pinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
: liàn ài mèng) Set in Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung is a city located in southwestern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait on the west. Kaohsiung, officially named Kaohsiung City, is divided into thirty-eight districts. The city is one of five special municipalities of the Republic of China...
in 1966, with dialogue in Taiwanese Hokkien.
A Time for Freedom
(ChineseChinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
: 自由夢; pinyin
Pinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
: zì yóu mèng) Set in Dadaocheng
Dadaocheng
Dadaocheng , spelled Twatutia before Japanese rule, is an area in the Datong District, part of the Taipei Basin and a historic section of Taipei City. It was known as Daitotei by the Japanese and Tataocheng during the Kuomintang era...
in 1911, with dialogue presented only through on-screen captions.
A Time for Youth
(ChineseChinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
: 青春夢; pinyin
Pinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
: qīng chūn mèng) Set in Taipei
Taipei
Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...
in 2005, with dialogue in Mandarin.
Critical reception
Three Times received generally positive, sometimes ecstatic reviews when it was released in North America. It currently holds an 85% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with 86% among the 'Cream of the Crop.'http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/three_times/ Most critics agreed that the opening segment, A Time for Love, was the most successful, and that the final segment, A Time for Youth (which was frequently compared to Hou's Millennium MamboMillennium Mambo
Millennium Mambo directed by Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-Hsien, is a 2001 film.-Synopsis:The main character, Vicky, portrayed by actress Shu Qi narrates from 2011 about her life 10 years earlier. She describes her youth and story of her changing life at the beginning of the new Millennium. She...
) was the least successful. Response was somewhat mixed for the second segment, A Time for Freedom, with many critics likening it to Hou's Flowers of Shanghai
Flowers of Shanghai
Flowers of Shanghai is a 1998 film, made in Taiwan, directed by Guangdong-born Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien starring Hada Michiko, Annie Shizuka Inoh, Shuan Fang, Jack Kao, Carina Lau, Tony Leung, Rebecca Pan, Michelle Reis and Vicky Wei...
.
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
, who championed the film at Cannes
2005 Cannes Film Festival
The 2005 Cannes Film Festival started on May 11 and ran until May 22. Twenty movies from 13 countries were selected to compete. The awards were announced on May 21...
, gave it four stars in his review for the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
:
"Three stories about a man and a woman, all three using the same actors. Three years: 1966, 1911, 2005. Three varieties of love: unfulfilled, mercenary, meaningless. All photographed with such visual beauty that watching the movie is like holding your breath so the butterfly won’t stir"http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060622/REVIEWS/60620004/1023
Kay Weissberg in Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
was very positive:
"Synthesizing Hou Hsiao-hsienHou Hsiao-HsienHou Hsiao-Hsien is an award-winning film director and a leading figure of Taiwan's New Wave cinema movement.-Biography:...
's ambivalent relationship with time and memory, Three Times forms a handy connecting arc between the Taiwanese helmer's earlier work and the increasingly fragmentary direction of his recent films. Best appreciated by those familiar with his slow rhythms and pessimistic take on contempo life, pic presents three stories using the same leads set in three time periods to explore love and how the present circumscribes lives."http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=cannes2005&content=review&reviewid=VE1117927202&categoryId=1724
Stephen Whitty of the Star-Ledger was not impressed:
"According to one American critic, Three Times is "why cinema exists." Only if you think that cinema has no higher calling than presenting a long series of gorgeously lit close-ups of beautiful actresses are you likely to agree."
Jim Jarmusch
Jim Jarmusch
James R. "Jim" Jarmusch is an American independent film director, screenwriter, actor, producer, editor and composer. Jarmusch has been a major proponent of independent cinema, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s.-Early life:...
:
"Hou Hsiao-hsien is not only the crowning jewel of contemporary Taiwanese cinema, but an international treasure. His films are, for me, among the most inspiring of the past thirty years, and his grace and subtlety as a filmmaker remain unrivaled. Film after film, Hou Hsiao-hsien is able to adeptly balance a historical and cultural overview with the smallest, most quiet and intimate details of individual interactions. His narratives can appear offhand and non-dramatic, and yet the structures of the films themselves are all about storytelling and the beauty of its variations. And Hou's camera placement is never less than exquisite.
His newest film, THREE TIMES, is also his newest masterpiece. A trilogy of three love stories, Chang Chen and Shu Qi beautifully portray Taiwanese lovers in three distinct time periods: 1966, 1911 and 2005. The first section (in 1966), just on its own, is one of the most perfect pieces of cinema I’ve ever seen. The second, set in a brothel in 1911, remarkably explores dialogue and verbal exchange by almost completely eliminating sound itself (!), while the final piece leaves us in present-day Taipei — a city of rapidly changing social and physical landscapes where technology has a harsh effect on delicate interpersonal communication. The resonance of these combined stories, their differences and similarities, their quietness and seeming simplicity, left me in a near dream-state - something that only happens to me after the most striking cinematic experiences.
Now, for the first time, one of Hou Hsiao-hsien's films is finally being properly released (by IFC) in the U.S. And this makes me, as a true fan, very, very happy."
Box office
Three Times was released in the United States on April 26, 2006, and was only the second film by Hou Hsiao-hsienHou Hsiao-Hsien
Hou Hsiao-Hsien is an award-winning film director and a leading figure of Taiwan's New Wave cinema movement.-Biography:...
to receive theatrical distribution in the USA (the first was Millennium Mambo
Millennium Mambo
Millennium Mambo directed by Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-Hsien, is a 2001 film.-Synopsis:The main character, Vicky, portrayed by actress Shu Qi narrates from 2011 about her life 10 years earlier. She describes her youth and story of her changing life at the beginning of the new Millennium. She...
). In its opening weekend on three screens, it grossed $14,197 USD ($4,732 per screen). Never playing at more than five theatres at any point during its theatrical run, it eventually grossed $151,922 USD in total.
Awards and nominations
- 2005 Cannes Film Festival2005 Cannes Film FestivalThe 2005 Cannes Film Festival started on May 11 and ran until May 22. Twenty movies from 13 countries were selected to compete. The awards were announced on May 21...
- Nominated: Palme d'Or
- 2005 Golden Horse Awards
- Won: Best Taiwanese Film of the Year
- Won: Best Actress (Shu QiShu QiShu Qi is the stage name of a Taiwanese actress born Lin Li-Hui . Her stage name is occasionally romanized as Hsu Chi or Shu Kei . Her name is sometimes seen in the Western order as Qi Shu.-Early life:...
) - Won: Best Taiwanese Filmmaker (Hou Hsiao-hsienHou Hsiao-HsienHou Hsiao-Hsien is an award-winning film director and a leading figure of Taiwan's New Wave cinema movement.-Biography:...
) - Nominated: Best Actor (Chang ChenChang ChenChang Chen is a Taiwanese actor, born in Taipei, Taiwan. His name is sometimes seen in the Western order . He is the son of a Taiwanese actor Chang Kuo Chu and brother of a Taiwanese actor, Chang Han .-Career:...
) - Nominated: Best Art Direction
- Nominated: Best Cinematography
- Nominated: Best Director
- Nominated: Best Editing
- Nominated: Best Makeup and Costume Design
- Nominated: Best Picture
- Nominated: Best Original Screenplay
- 2005 Hong Kong Film AwardsHong Kong Film AwardsThe Hong Kong Film Awards , founded in 1982, are the most prestigious film awards in Hong Kong and among the most respected in mainland China and Taiwan. Award ceremonies are held annually, typically in April. The Awards recognize achievement in all aspects of filmmaking, such as directing,...
- Nominated: Best Asian Film (Taiwan)
- 2006 Yerevan International Film FestivalYerevan International Film FestivalYerevan International Film Festival "Golden Apricot" is a Yerevan-based annual film festival. The objectives of the festival are "to present new works by the film directors and producers in Armenia and foreign cinematographers of Armenian descent and to promote creativity and originality in the...
- Won: Golden Apricot - Best Film