(aka 'What Time Is It" "What Time is it Over There?"or "There Ni neibian')
Taiwan
2001
Tsai Ming-Liang states (as detailed in the DVD "Director's Notes" of the "What
Time is it There"
"In 1992 my father died of cancer. He never got to see my first film. In
1997, the day before shooting began on The Hole, Hsiao Kang's father took his
own life because he was tired of fighting the illness that caused him such pain.
The following year on a flight to a film festival, Hsaio Kang slept on the
plane; the melancholy on his face made me even sadder.
On December 6th 2000, I started shooting 'What Time is it There?' in Taipei.
February 7th, 2001 shooting ended in Paris."
Tsai Ming-Liang follows his trademark 'pondering static camera' ("Rebels
of the Neon God", "The
River", "The
Hole" and "Vive
L'Amour") with his fifth feature
film, "What Time is it There?". His unconventional style will deter many
cinema goers who might envisage something more easily penetrable, perhaps
requiring less speculation. In a pure minimalist vein, Tsai uses no music (aside
from "The
400 Blows" theme played sparingly). There is no cinematographic
panning shots... no camera movement for each take. Each scene is a single static
shot. There are almost no close-ups. There are extremely long stretches without
any dialogue. Hopefully, this does not send you running in the other direction
because it is indeed a wonderful viewing experience touching upon many important
modern emotional themes.
The major plot focuses on a watch-selling street vendor named Hsiao-Kang played
by Kang-Sheng Lee who has appeared in all Tsai Ming-Liang's feature films (NOTE:
Hsiao-Kang is also his real-life nickname). In the film his father has passed
away and he and his Mother (Lu Yi-Ching) have amusing difficulty in accepting
this, coping in their own unusual fashion. Hsaio-Kang has just sold his own
watch to a beautiful girl, Shiang-Chyi Chen, who is now in Paris. His longing
for her manifests itself in his desire to watch French films (Truffaut's "The
400 Blows"), drink wine, and set every clock and watch within his grasp to
Parisian time.
Because of Kang's obsessive time piece adjustments, which is misconstrued by his
Mother as a sign of her deceased husband's reincarnation, the three major
characters of the film become somehow synchronized. Shiang-Chyi Che
co-incidentally meets the actor Jean-Pierre Léaud, star of 1959's "The
400 Blows", on a park bench in a cemetery (actually right across from Léaud's
real-life home in Paris). All three major characters eat at the same moment and
Kang, his Mother and Shiang each have a meaningless sexual escapade
simultaneously. Shiang beds a friendly female she meets whilst vomiting in a
restaurant toilet, Kang has sex with a thieving prostitute in the backseat of
his car and the Mother masturbates with what looks like a whicker basket, to a
photo of her deceased husband close by.
Tsai has a magnificent eye his shots are wonderfully abstract and refreshing.
Most often he does not allowing the focus of activity to be in the center of the
frame, lending itself slightly to an aura of realism. Tsai and his films have
been compared to great directors of the past including Antonioni, Bresson and
even Keaton. Michelangelo Antonioni for his use of sparse dialogue and recurrent
theme of personal isolation. Buster Keaton for Kang's comedic dead-pan sense of
natural timing. Regardless, Tsai's films all work from their own level of
eccentricity in both the tone and examination of prevalent motifs.
Pointing out life's absurdities in an honest and dour spirit, Tsai recounts
previous film themes such as lack of communication, self-imposed solitary
depression, indiscriminant sexual acts predicated on overflowing desire and new
for this film; coping with death. He both exposes and pokes fun at his own
Buddhist religious conventions while maintaining an arm's length respect. It is
all at once humorous, honest and sad. Photographed with style and beauty, this
aspect of Tsai's work has matured enormously. It is hard not to refer back to
many scenes of his past films, if you have been lucky enough to view them. I
strongly recommend this film, but suggest that first-time viewers may garner
more from a gradual transition to Tsai's work, perhaps seeing them in
chronological order. To state simply that I loved this would be an
understatement. I am so enamored with it and feeling pretty eccentric myself
these days so I just set my computer clock to Parisian time... and urge you to
do the same. I give it out of 
out of
Poster (CLICK to enlarge)
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Theatrical Release: May 15th, 2001 - Cannes Film Festival
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
DVD Comparison:
Wellspring - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Cinemagi - Region 2 - PAL
Big thanks to Arvid for the Cinemagi Screen Caps!
(Wellspring - Region 0 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Cinemagi - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)
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| Distribution |
Wellspring Region 0 - NTSC |
Cinemagi Region 2 - PAL |
| Runtime | 1:50:20 | 1.50:28 |
| Video |
1.80:1 Original Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
1.80:1 Original Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Wellspring
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Cinemagi
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| Audio | Taiwanese, Mandarin and French (Dolby Digital 2.0), Taiwanese, Mandarin and French (Dolby Digital 5.1) |
Taiwanese, Mandarin and French (Dolby Digital 2.0) |
| Subtitles | English, None | Swedish, None. |
| Features |
Release Information:
Edition Details: • Director's
Notes (text) |
Release Information: Studio: Cinemagi Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details:
DVD
Release Date: 2003-10-10 Chapters 22 |
| Comments |
NOTE: Arvid did a good job but some of the frames are not exact matches.
Addition
Cinemagi R2: -
Arvid
About the Wellspring: The Wellspring DVD is
1:50:20 long. It transfers an average bit rate of 5.7 Mb/sec. It is
shown in the 1.80:1 widescreen aspect ratio. The sound gives you a
choice of Dolby Stereo or Dolby 5.1 Surround. The language is Mandarin,
Taiwanese and French with removable yellow English sub-titles. The
picture is NOT anamorphic but it is progressively transferred. The main
DVD menu is slightly animated and contains 16 Chapter stops. There is no
leaflet insert inside the "keep case" box. The "Special Feature" extras
include a Theatrical Trailer (2:15), a Home Video Trailer (1:23),
"Director's Notes" consisting of 15 static screens of Tsai text,
filmographies of Tsai and Kang and "Weblinks".
For a non 16X9 offering the image
isn't too horrendous - colors don't look off, but are a bit funky at
times. There is some artifacting and very slight edge enhancement and
I'd have preferred the image improved rather than a 5.1 bump on an
almost silent film. But we are at the mercy of the decision guru's at
Wellspring. Still, the only game in town and it plays acceptably.
NOTE: Looks like Wellspring did
the poster art for the film after they acquired the rights. Their
'commitment' to the artist can be seen in the huge faux-pas of
misspelling the director's name. Check
HERE. Perhaps Wellspring thought Mr. Tsai was somehow distantly
related to Fritz !? Way to show yourself Wellspring!
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(Wellspring - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Cinemagi - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)
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(Wellspring - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Cinemagi - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)
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(Wellspring - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Cinemagi - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)
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(Wellspring - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Cinemagi - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)
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Recommended Reading in Chinese/Hong Kong/Taiwanese Cinema (CLICK COVERS or TITLES for more information)
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Memoirs from the Beijing Film Academy
by Zhen Ni, Chris Berry, Ni Zhen |
Zhang Yimou: Interviews (Conversations With
Filmmakers) by Frances Gateward |
Chinese Films in Focus: 25 New Takes by Chris Berry |
Wong Kar-Wai: Auteur of Time (Bfi World Directors) by Stephen Teo |
China into Film: Frames of Reference in Contemporary
Chinese Cinema (Envisioning Asia) by Jerome Silbergeld |
New Chinese Cinemas
by Nick Browne |
Once Upon a Time in China : A Guide to Hong Kong,
Taiwanese, and Mainland Chinese Cinema by Jeff Yang |
Tsai Ming-Liang by Tsai Ming-Liang |
Check out more in "The Library"
Report Card:
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Image: |
Cinemagi |
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Sound: |
Wellspring (Optional 5.1) |
| Extras: | Cinemagi |
| Menu: | - |
| DVD Box Covers |
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| Distribution |
Wellspring Region 0 - NTSC |
Cinemagi Region 2 - PAL |
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Thank You!
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