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Three Times

Three Times

(Zuihaode Shiguang), Hou Hsiao-hsien / Taiwan, 2005
Mandarin / English subtitles, 135 min

The director's most recent film tells three different stories from three different time periods. 1966 is depicted through the story of an unfulfilled love of a soldier and a barmaid. Then we move to 1911, when a young prostitute enters a tea-growing family. In 2005, we follow the story of singer Ying, who is losing her eyesight and lives with her female lover Micky. Their lives are invaded by Zhen and his girlfriend Blue. This unconventional and nearly monumental span of three different eras fascinates not only by the way the protagonists and their different time periods are portrayed, but also by the emphasis on description of the dynamic changes, which totally changed the world during the past 90 years.

Hou Hsiao-Hsien (1947)
The first story of the film is based on the authors memory of a smoky pool bar. The part uses a human story to return to a dramatic moment in Taiwanese history and the third part again portrays a lost generation which, starting with fascination with drugs and electronic music, searches for a way to deal with the world at its hands. It may seem as if another part of HHH's career was closing with a film referencing many of his former works. Still, it appears that the author remains a strong name to his audience, the critics as well as his peer cinematographers. He is currently shooting a new film in Paris.