What Time Is It There?

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S R 1001 movies to see before you die. Yes it was an interesting film, but do I want to see it again? Not really. I did enjoy seeing Taiwan and Paris from a Taiwanese perspective. RUS. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 10/24/23 Full Review William L The world is a confusing and chaotic place. When you lose any solid footing you might have, how are you supposed to respond? Tsai Ming-liang presents grief in a human context, that is to say, an illogical one; a wife who sees the potential for her late husband's reincarnation in every detail around her, a woman whose alienation sends her further away, and a son who deals with his loneliness by pining for a woman he has only met in passing, adjusting the time of each clock he comes across to reflect the time in her destination of Paris. The treatment of these responses varies from darkly comic to deeply tragic, but along the way constatnly inspiring a sense of empathy in the characters' shared rejection of reality and the loneliness that they attempt to sidestep. Very slowly paced but done with intent, What Time is it There? is incremental but can leave you feeling absolutely hollow. (4/5) Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/05/22 Full Review Audience Member This film proceeds so slowly, it's hard to discern that anything is happening. Bit by bit we see that it is about three characters, and how things appear calm above the surface of their lives, but what we watch for the first 30 minutes or so is deceiving. Only 2 of the 3 characters really know each other, yet the two that do not have a more profound effect on each other than one would expect. Roger Ebert's review is the definitive one on this film. 4 Stars Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member Despite its evocative visuals, it feels repetitious to see Tsai explore once again his favorite themes of loneliness and emptiness but in a film that is too puzzling and lacks in consistency - especially with regard to the character's odd obsession with clocks and a woman he barely meets. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Audience Member Peeing into plastic bags and plastic bottles. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member This is the second film I've seen by Ming-liang Tsai and it shares the same rhythms with that later one (Goodbye Dragon Inn) -- that is, slow and still. The shots often feature "ugly" settings (e.g., toilets, messy rooms) but are shot with colored lights or filters (and dressed with certain objects) such that the complementary hues stand out. The plot itself is about loss and lack of connection (a father/husband passes away, a girl goes on a trip to a country where she doesn't speak the language) but it doesn't feel as depressed or dejected as that sounds -- instead it feels rather mysterious. This sense of mystery is heightened by the film's ending in Paris. What resonance might an object like the watch (transferred from one to another) hold, spiritually, psychologically? Is this the key to the puzzle? Deeper allusions to reincarnation (the wheel of time) abound and turning back time might be a very common human yearning. Something to ponder. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Read all reviews

What Time Is It There?

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