Diagonaldi Very well executed

Inclubabu Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Infamousta brilliant actors, brilliant editing

DipitySkillful an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

Red-125 The Taiwanese movie Zui hao de shi guang was shown in the United States with the title Three Times (2005). The film was co-written and directed by Hsiao-Hsien Hou.A more accurate title for this movie would be "Three Episodes." The movie is really three separate 40-minute films, linked only by the fact that the same actors play the leads in all three episodes. Both actors are famous in Taiwan--Qi Shu is a major female lead actor, and Chen Chang is equally well known. (Both have starred in dozens of films.)The first story is charming in a quiet way. It's set in 1966. Qi Shu plays a hostess at a pool hall. From the context of the film, these young women were there in a more or less decorative way. They weren't prostitutes. A young man is about to be drafted into the army, and he clearly is in love with the hostess. When he returns on leave, she's gone, and he searches for her from small town pool hall to small town pool hall, always one step behind.The second film basically follows in the steps of Flowers of Shanghai (1998), another film by Hsiao-Hsien Hou, which I've seen and reviewed. Both movies are set in very elegant houses of prostitution. Although this episode is set in the 20th Century, about 30 years after Flowers of Shanghai, apparently very little had changed. The girls were sold by their parents into virtual slavery, and were trained as courtesans from an early age. They could buy their way out of the houses, but it was expensive. In fact, the hero is considered extremely generous because he pays part of the fee that enables one of the prostitutes to leave the brothel and become a concubine to a wealthy man. Both Flowers of Shanghai and this episode were filmed entirely indoors. The house is its own universe, with its own rules. Everyone plays by those rules, and it's never clear who will win or lose.The third story is contemporary--set in modern Taipai. Qui Shu is a performer--never quite clear to me what she does--who is in a committed lesbian relationship. However, she begins an affair with a photographer. The movie is loud and depressing. I couldn't find any reason to care about any of the characters. It was hard to decide which was worse--the motorcycle rides through Taipai (portrayed as the ugliest city in the world) or the incredibly loud rock music at the clubs.The first episode is worth seeing, the second is fascinating, and the third is worth avoiding. My advice is that if you see the film in a theater, leave after the second episode. If you watch it on DVD stop after the second episode. Or, at least, watch the last episode first, so that's not the one you'll remember when the movie is over.We saw the film at the Dryden Theatre at Eastman House in Rochester, NY. Bravo to the Dryden for showing a Hsiao-Hsien Hou retrospective. It was wonderful to see the film at the Dryden, but it will work well on DVD.

Claudio Carvalho (1) "A Time for Love": In 1966, in Kaohsiung, Chen (Chen Chang) meets May (Qi Shu) playing pool in a bar when he is joining the army. He sends letters to her and he comes to the bar to meet her again in his leave. However, May had traveled to another place and Chen seeks her out. (2) "A Time for Freedom": In 1911, in Dadaochend, the writer Mr. Chang (Chen Chang ) works for Mr. Liang and frequently travels to a brothel, where he meets the singer (Qi Shu). He financially helps the courtesan Ah Mei (Shi-Zheng Chen) to become a concubine. When the singer asks him if he would help her to leave the brothel, there is no answer.(3) "A Time for Youth": In 2005, in Taipei, the messy relationship of the photographer Zhen (Chen Chang), his girlfriend Jing (Qi Shu) and a lesbian singer."Three Times" is a pretentious and overrated film with three (boring) short stories of love and communication. I will not extend any additional comment since there is not much to say. My vote is four.Title (Brazil): Not Available

nycritic Hou Hsiao-Hsien's THREE TIMES may look gorgeous in its two opening stories situated in 1911 and 1966, but lovely images are all that they seem to offer while attempting to tell love stories during three different ages, an obvious nod in style and pace to Kar Wai Wong's 2046 without the sci-fi elements. And having the same actors play the lead roles in the three vignettes doesn't help much (while it is a technique frequently used), since both are much too wooden and have virtually no chemistry together.The first sequence takes place in 1966 and is the best of the three. Chen (Chang Chen) meets the lovely Mai (Shu Qi) at a pool hall; both fall in love, but he enlists and goes to war. When he returns, she is nowhere to be found, so he goes after her, moving from town to town in her pursuit. When he does catch up with her, she is working at another pool hall. They re-connect in a near silent way and while it looks genuine in its awkwardness, there is an intensity that is lacking. However, the chapter ends in a truly lovely shot of both Chen and Mai waiting for the bus to arrive as he has to return to his base, his hand finding hers. In this respect, it's emotionally satisfying.The second sequence moves back in time to 1911 and is filmed in the style of silent cinema (complete with inter-titles). A diplomat comes to a Taiwanese brothel and becomes privy to a situation where a man is trying to purchase a wife but has no money. The diplomat helps this man out, and his act of kindness impresses another courtesan with whom he falls in love with. While extremely slow moving, it's quite beautiful and delicate, but may not impress anyone trying to look for stronger manifestations of quiet, restrained love.The third sequence takes place in the present. It's chaotic and meanders much like the two leads (again Chang Chen and Shu Qi) as they speed through Taipei's highways. In this movie, Taipei looks as alienating as the computers that have become the mode of communication between the characters of this vignette, and while many might like this form of deconstructed love that seems to exist in hiccups, it's something of a mess and nearly sinks the entire movie. The lack of a common thread or even a symbolic motif linking the three stories is rather glaring and drains away any impact this kind of movie might have had.

asc85 With all the great acclaim this film received, and with none other than Shu Qi starring in it, I was really looking forward to it. Unfortunately, it was a huge disappointment. And I'm someone who liked "Millennium Mambo," another Hou Hsao-Hsien/Shu Qi collaboration.Probably the most generous thing I can say about this movie is that it does not translate well for Western audiences.And since a number of people here are "voting" for which of the three stories worked the best for them, I'd have to go with the 1911 story.Shu Qi is one of the most beautiful women in the world, but even that couldn't make me enjoy how slow and boring this very long film was.