Three Times

Hou Hsiao-Hsien's Three Times (2005) is a frequently beautiful and sublimely haunting film, a formalist experiment that examines how the social and political constraints of the time period impact human desire. The three narratives take place in 1911, 1966, and 2005, and underscore the rigidity of early twentieth century, the optimism of mid-century, and the confused and disaffectedness of contemporary life.

Shu Qi plays all three of the female leads, and Chang Chen all the male leads, and their natural attraction to one another shifts concurrently with the narrative. On one hand, the first two narratives worked unbelievably well, with pitch-perfect stylistics and performances. That ending to the "A Time for Love" (1966) story is absolutely enchanting, one-upping Wong Kar Wai in its depiction of 1960's romanticism, while "A Time for Freedom" (1911) is embedded with such a sense of bitterness and melancholy. So those are both great, offering first a sublime story concerning the simplicity of affection and desire, and the second story seeming to explore the deep-seeded regret that comes with an unfilfilled love. So the link between fulfillment in liking someone and the lack of reciprocal love works formally.

But the contemporary story doesn't quite resonate on any of the same levels, as though Hou's narrative construction and formalist pacing doesn't quite translate with the same level of success to modern times. Still, it has its individual moments, it just fails to reach that transcendent moment. Here, rather than the formal piano orchestra of 1911 and the American love songs of the 1966 story, the music and melodies are achieved vis-a-vis droning rock and electronica bands, which certainly conforms to a different ontology concerning the characters than their earlier counterparts. The scenes with Shu singing in the concert venue, where Chang is more concerned with snapping pictures than listening to her words is telling, and a nice touch. It just has that Antonioni-ennui, which, while paralleling the vastness of the contemporary city, seem a little contrived. It just feels too easy to suggest that relationships today lack the intimacy and connectedness of yesteryear.

A great essay concerning Hou's aesthetic and formal choices in Three Times can be found here. It details the structural and operative modes of communication that Hou utilizes throughout the three narratives, and offers the best response to the unorderliness of contemporary life in Hou's film. Regardless of how one feels about the last narrative, though, the first narrative shown cinematically (1966) is absolute magic, and even the formal qualities of the second narrative (1911) are excellent. Judge the last narrative for yourself.

Three Times: 8.5/10