The Best of Times
Three Times is a compilation of three short films by master director Hou Hsiao Hsien that are connected through our main actors, Shi Qi and Chang Chen. Why them? Well, I suppose they are two of the most famous young actors in Asia. Shi Qi was a former softcore porn star when she transitioned to legit work with Hou Hsiao Hsien’s Millenium Mambo. She paid her Hollywood dues with the mild hit The Transporter and then paid her Hong Kong dues with Tokyo Raiders followed by a mediocre Seoul Raiders. Chang Chen made a big splash when he starred opposite Zhang Ziyi in Crouching Tiger, deflowering the budding star in the film. Chang later starred in a DJ Shadow video, directed by Wong Kar Wai. Wong used Chang again in his Eros entry, The Hand, co-starring Gong Li. Oh yeah, and they’re both really hot looking.
Shifting from 1966 to 1911 to 2005, our actors come back as if reincarnated into another life. Each time they are in some relationship that is affected by the circumstances of the times they live in.
1966 (”Time for Love”)
….they play a young man who must complete his military duty (a requirement for all males of age) and a young woman who works from poolhall to poolhall as a hostess. When the man loses contact of the woman, he searches far and wide for her. His cool demeanor hides the passion that is causing him to seek out a person who he met once but could not forget. Shi Qi plays her part very innocently. The end of this short is a perfect evocation of young love.
1911 (”Time for Freedom”)
This one tells the story of a courtesan and her politically progressive patron. Touched by the currents of revolution and freedom, Chang Chen disapproves of the practice of having concubines even as his courtesan desperately wishes he could release her from her immaculate cage.
The most curious part of this “time” is that it is made like a silent film. Characters move their lips and then a card appears with the dialogue they’ve just spoken. Its period style definitely gives it a very heavy mannerism although this is offset by some very beautiful Chinese impressionist piano pieces. Reminiscent of Flowers of Shanghai, the short captures the delicate prison of Shi Qi’s courtesan.
2005 (”Time for Youth”)
When we get to this short, it is truly a breath of fresh air. Not only do you hear sounds of people talking, but this time Shi Qi and Chang Chen get to touch each other and make passionate love. Unfortunately, it is at the expense of Shi Qi’s character’s lesbian lover. Here love and personal connection is mediated through cell phones, internet, digital cameras, microphones and electronic keyboards. This short is most reminiscent of Millenium Mambo, which also starred Shi Qi.
The best (or worst) part of the shorts is that they don’t explain themselves to you. The first one is perhaps the most direct narrative. The second is a slow burn fraught with the implications of history with a capital H. The third is a slice of modern-day, adult-children slacker existence. I think the consensus is that the first short is the best. It certainly is the “feel good’ one if you could call it that. I dare you to watch it and not remember the joys of falling in love for the first time.
