Three Times (2005) - full transcript

A Paradis Films

Orly Films

and SinoMovie. Co. Ltd
production

Executive Producers
Hou Hsiao-Hsien

Hwarng Wern-Ying

and Liao Ching-Sun

Starring
Shu Qi

and Chang Chen

Directed by
Hou Hsiao-Hsien

THREE TIMES

Kaohsiung. 1966



A TIME FOR LOVE

Hello.
You arrive from Xinying?

I'll be right there
when I've made these offerings.

- Okay.
- Go in.

- Do you need a hand?
- No, thanks.

Hi.

I'm finished.
I'll show you around.

We'll start with upstairs.

May! Lunch is ready!

Coming.

Dear Miss Haruko.

Forgive me for writing
to you like this.

I am off to the army.

My folks told me
my call-up notice had arrived.



I have to go home
as soon as I can.

Time flies.

I failed
the university entrance exam twice.

My mother has passed away.

I have no idea
what the future holds.

I just wanted to thank you.

The days I have spent around here

have been the happiest of all.

I hope to hear from you.

Take care.

P.S. Do you know that love song
which goes...

I think of you

We have been apart

for three long years

Still I keep your warmth in my heart

And your voice in my ears

For three long years

The seabirds' cry by the sea

So sad and melancholy

Revives my sorrow

And chills me

to the marrow

Is Haruko here?

She's moved to Taichung.

Taichung?

Do you know where?

Near the railway station.

What's your name?

- Sorry?
- Your name?

My name is May.

May.

You sank it.

Great!

You need to concentrate!

I thought I could get
this ball over there...

And sink it that way?

Almost!

You haven't sunk a ball for ages!

Neither have I, for that matter.

I've lost again.

Right.

Never mind.

I have to go.

Go where?

To do my military service
in Taipei.

Keep the change.

I'll write to you.

I'll write to you.

I'll send the letter here.

Dear Miss May.

Do you remember me?

We played pool
before I left for the army.

Time flies.

That was three months ago.

Here. It drizzles all the time.

In our base. They keep
playing that song...

It sums up my feelings perfectly.

See you soon. I hope.

Stay beautiful!

Have a seat.

Ma'am...

I should be going.

Won't you have lunch first?

No, I'm afraid I'll miss my train.

Come back anytime.

You'll always be welcome.

Didn't you work in Jiayi before?

Yes.

I thought I'd seen you there.

I have to go.

Hello.

Is May here?

She doesn't work here any more.

She's gone back to Jiayi.

To Jiayi?

Where exactly?

She works at a poolroom there.

Are you looking for her?

I can ask my boss.

Ma'am!

- There's a man looking for May.
- Coming.

You're looking for May?

She's working in Jiayi,
at 685 Zhongcheng Road.

- Zhongcheng Road?
- That's right.

GANGSHAN

TAINAN

JIAYI

Excuse me.
Is May working here?

May? She left a while ago.

Do you know where she is now?

Sorry, I don't.

Thanks anyway.

Good shot!

SHUISHANG

XINYING

Excuse me.

This is number 11.
Where's number 3?

- Number 30?
- No, 3.

Over there is number 6.

The doctor lives at number 1.

You can ask there.

Anyone in?

Who is it?

Are you looking for someone?

I'm looking for May.

May?

She's not here, she's in Huwei.

Huwei?

Where did you get this address?

I'm a friend of hers from Kaohsiung.

She wrote to me.

I see.

You know where she is?

Yes, she wrote to me the other day.
Just a minute.

Thank you.

Thank you.

See you again!

DALIN

DOUNAN

HUWEl

You don't have to let me win!

Long time no see!

How did you find me?

Your mother gave me your address.

It was hard to track you down.

Have you eaten yet?

At what time do you get off?

In two hours from now.

When are you due back at base?

At 9 tomorrow morning.

- Do you want some tea?
- Sure.

Thank you.

Sit down.

Cigarette?

Okay.

Hey, spare me a cigarette?

It's too late.

The last train is gone.

At what time are you due back?

Nine in the morning.

Then we'd better wait
at the bus stop.

Dadaocheng. 1911

When did you arrive?

Yesterday.

I met Mr Liang on the docks
at Keelung.

There was a meeting today
at the Dong Huei Fang Restaurant.

It was packed.

You mean Mr Liang who fled to Japan

after the Reform Movement failed?

Mr Liang spoke for one hour

and wrote out four poems.

We found them deeply moving.

One of the poems read:

"Our homeland is torn asunder.

"Our brotherly bond is ever tighter."

A TIME FOR FREEDOM

How long will you stay this time?

Five days.

Then I will go to Taichung
with Mr Liang

and we will come back.

Last year. Your son had a fever.

Has he recovered?

He is well now.

But it took two whole months.

THE NEXT DAY

We sincerely wish to resolve

the issue of redeeming
Ah Mei's contract.

300 liang is a large sum.

Is it possible
to negotiate some more?

Ah Mei is pregnant
by the heir to the Su family.

He is ready to take her
as his concubine.

What have they decided?

The Su family offers 200 liang.

But Madame asks for 300.
So they couldn't agree.

I will make up the difference
for them.

In your articles. You always criticise
the keeping of concubines.

Aren't you acting
against your own principles?

I do disapprove of this practice.

But in view of Ah Mei's situation.
I feel compelled to help her.

Your generosity is overwhelming.

Your stay is too short
for us to show our full gratitude.

Travel safely.

Ah Mei will thank you in person
when you return.

SIX DAYS LATER

I can see that Mr Su is honourable.

His father is also
very understanding.

You are lucky.

You will be married tomorrow.
Your life will change.

You will have to rise early
to serve your in-laws.

Always defer to the first wife.

Be humble
and never behave wilfully.

ONE MONTH LATER

During my travels with Mr Liang.
I met very important people.

It has been very formative.

Mr Liang says China
will not be ready

to help us free ourselves from Japan

for another three decades.

Here are the 100 liang
for Ah Mei.

Many thanks.

Ah Mei is truly fortunate
to have found such a good family.

Madame is seeking a new girl
to replace her.

Meanwhile. She asked me
to stay a little longer.

She had always promised
to let me become a concubine

as soon as Ah Mei
would be able to replace me.

THE NEXT DAY

How old are you?

I am ten.

She has a good bone structure.

But she is a little skinny.

You are pregnant.
Don't overtire yourself.

Today Ah Mei returns to express
her gratitude to you. Sir.

Without your kind intervention.
This could not have happened.

So you leave tomorrow.
When will you come back?

I will assist Mr Liang
with his plan for a newspaper.

I may return here at any time.

I have something to ask you.

Last time you said that.

In view of Ah Mei's situation.

You felt compelled to help her.

Now that Madame is asking me
to stay here longer...

I would like to know

whether you have any plans for me.

THREE MONTHS LATER

THE WUCHANG UPRISING

I reached Tokyo yesterday.
I have already seen Mr Liang.

We leave for Shanghai tomorrow.

I saw the hall where they signed

the treaty handing
Taiwan over to Japan.

Thinking of Mr Liang's poem.
I couldn't help shedding a tear.

"Although this place
has torn my heart.

"It is wrenching to leave it.

"Seventeen years have passed

"and the sorrowful waves
still break on its shores. "

Taipei. 2005

Are you okay?

A TIME FOR YOUTH

It's over now.

Let's go.

Mum, did you just call?

I see.

Are you feeling better?

Is it ready?

It's even gone cold.

Thanks.

You got an e-mail.

Born premature.

Showed up too early.

I pay a high price for that.

Broken bones.
A hole in the heart.

Epilepsy.
My right eye is almost blind.

A Yen sign branded on my throat.

Name your price.
I want to sell my soul.

No past. No future.

Just a greedy present.

Please open your eyes

Open your ears

Check your brain

To realise what you want

To realise who you are

No one can decide

how you feel

Don't be afraid

to liberate deep inside your mind

The colour which you've seen

The shape which you're in

May reveal the secret

you've never known before

So celebrate

when you're honest to yourself

So celebrate

when you've no need
to disregard how you feel

So celebrate

when you feel different from me

Let's celebrate

when we've no need to tell lies

and hide

"I suffer from epilepsy.

"Do not call an ambulance.

"Please move me
to a safe, warm place.

"Taipei Medical
University Hospital."

Piss off!

Come on.

Leave me alone!

I need toilet paper.

Pass me some toilet paper.

Thanks.

Why didn't you call me back?

You never pick up.

You could have called back.

I was sleeping.

Why didn't you call to say so?

I told you I was bushed.

You text me
and then you don't answer my call?

I wanted to tell you
I'd had a fit.

So you can text me
but not speak to me?

I went to sleep right away.

Still...
You knew I was looking for you.

Couldn't you hear your phone?

No, go ahead.

Couldn't you?

I'd left it in vibration mode.

Don't be angry.

Don't be angry.

If you were me,
what would you think?

I'll wait for you, okay?

You've calmed down?

1 message

Can't sleep
Miss you

You left your epileptic badge
at my place

Got the photos
Will show you tomorrow

I burn my hand with this lighter
every time I light a candle.

Let's chuck it away.

Hand me the other one.

Thanks.

We'll light this one later.

Those two as well.

And this one?

Has some water gone inside it?

You heard that funny sound?

The wick is wet.

We'll buy new ones tomorrow.

Pass me the last two.

The water's dirty.
Will you change it later?

Is it because of the candle wax?

I can't even light this one.

Would you like it

if I put some fragrant oils
in the bath?

Sure.

Shall we bathe together?

I'll take that as a 'Yes'.

Okay.

I'll go get the robes.

The picture which you took before

The smile of grey eyes

May rest. Such cruel sound

Jing! It's ready. Hurry up!

It's still vivid

like a bird

Jing!

You're still awake?
Grandma made some chicken soup.

There's some soup.
Do you want some?

Yes, please.

Sorry I'm late.

I called you
but you didn't answer.

The photos.

Let's go to your place.

Jing?

1 missed call
Show the number?

Connecting

You must have gone out
before 12:45.

You left your mobile phone here

to make me think
you'd just stepped out for a minute.

You received a call
at 12:45.

So you'd already gone by then.

Now it's 3:33 pm.
You've been out for almost 3 hours.

You knew I'd wake up around 4.

I'm fed up hearing your lies,
fed up waiting for you.

I love you
more than you love me.

You'll regret this. I'll kill myself
like your ex-girlfriend.

The picture which you took before

The smile of grey eyes

May rest. Such cruel sound

It's still vivid

like a bird

Screenplay: Chu Tien-Wen

Cinematography: Mark Lee Ping-Bin

Production Designer:
Hwarng Wern-Ying

Editor: Liao Ching-Sun

Sound Designer: Tu Duu-Chih

Processed by C.M.C.

For the past one or two years,

I have started to get more involved
in politics.

I'm against the manner in which

history is explained by politicians.

Especially how the ruling party
interpret history.

They're totally biased.

They interpret history for their own gain.

I've read about Taiwan's modern history before.

I've made films of Taiwan's modern history.

I was planning a way to show

that the best moments of an era
aren't what the politicians have told us.

The stories of some characters and
some scenes might not be very substantial.

They just show the essence of an era.

The composition and the way the film
was shot are based on that thought.

The reason...

My story is in the first part, 1966.

Then it's Huang Wen-Ying's story, 1911,

followed by Peng Wen-Chung's.

The two of them
were directing for the first time.

Peng Wen-Chun's story was
meant to be in the '80s, initially.

In the beginning, how we got the idea was

each of us would recall
the best moments of our childhood.

We'd suggest these.
The two of them were very busy as well.

At around December last year,

we had a meeting and decided
that the film wasn't happening.

After that,

in around mid-December, the
general election I was involved in was over.

I had more free time
and wanted to shoot this film.

I reconsidered the plot and decided
to change the '80s to 2005.

The change was also to
accommodate the actress, Shu Qi.

I feel that it wasn't easy for her
after Millennium Mambo.

I made that decision
after I discussed it with her.

Nine points.

The total is 60.

The first story is based on
personal experience.

It's the period when I did
my national service.

The second story is set in 1911,
which was my decision.

1911 and 1966 are two very important years
in Taiwan's modern history.

1966 is the year of the Cultural Revolution
in China, Taiwan was isolated.

The third story is set in 2005. I decided
on this contemporary story because...

The three stories are related to
Taiwan's political background.

But I didn't want to show
any politics in my stories.

In 2004, after the presidential election,

the Democratic Progressive Party
came to power.

The process split Taiwan in two.

Hence...

my thoughts about the film
revolved around this issue.

But I expressed it through human emotions.

For the second story,

the love story represents
a dream of freedom.

The man is always thinking about
going back to China to rejoin the revolution.

He'll never be committed to the courtesan.

It does resemble
some of my previous films

but the style and composition
of this part wasn't premeditated.

In The Boys From Fengkuei,
part of the story happened in Qi Jing.

The first story also happens in the same place.

I lived there for half a year, my memory of that
place is very vivid, its screen time is doubled.

The first story was shot in six days.
It was very rushed.

When you're faced with such constraints,
you work quickly.

You always think of the most
effective way to tell the story.

The second part is similar to
Flowers Of Shanghai.

Both stories are set in the same period.

My way of shooting period film has matured.
The task was relatively easy.

We also filmed on location.
We didn't need to build a set.

The second part was shot quite quickly,
in just 12 days.

The third part, set in 2005,
was shot in 34 days.

34 shooting days.

The contemporary segment was the most
difficult to shoot, it was too close to home.

We had too many choices,

be it locations or other things.

We became indecisive and slow.

The first cut of the third part
was about 90 minutes.

Later we trimmed it to 40 minutes.

1966 was before I went to the army,
and I played a lot of snooker.

At that time,
Taiwan was full of snooker halls.

They didn't need a licence to open one.

The attendants there
didn't have much to do

so there were a lot of these "snooker girls"
hanging around.

The snooker girls were there
to record the scores.

They were always moving around.

I wrote a love letter to one.

She behaved exactly like
the character in the film.

She...

She was very cold.

When I went back later, she had gone.
So I went on to another one.

She told me she was sensitive.
That's why I wrote to her.

I wrote to her when I was in the army.

When I went to look for her during a holiday,
she had gone. I searched everywhere for her.

When I found her, it was already very late.
I had to rush back to the camp.

Later...

When I left the army
and was enrolled at the university,

I wrote to her again.

She wrote back to me.

When I wrote another letter again,
her fianc? replied to me.

She was about to get married.
That was the end of that.

It's too late.

There aren't any more trains.

What time do you need to be there?

Nine o'clock.

The first story, at that time,
Taiwan was going through the Cold War.

The Cold War started in the '50s.

Taiwan had strong ties with America
at that time.

We got to hear a lot of American songs
in the snooker halls.

We didn't know what was going on outside,
nothing about China.

China was going through
the Cultural Revolution. We knew nothing.

We were blissfully ignorant.

The first story was shot in Kaohsiung.

It's on a small island off Kaohsiung,
reachable by boat.

The place is called Qi Hou, I lived there for
about half a year while preparing for university.

I was supposed to study for the entrance exam
but I didn't, I played a lot.

I fought a lot too.
Of course, I didn't get in.

That's a very memorable period,
going to and fro on a boat.

The rest of the locations are...

When I was filming Three Times,
I had four films in a compilation set -

The Boys From Fengkuei, Dust In The Wind,
A Time To Live A Time To Die,

and A Summer At Grandpa's.

A friend wrote the introduction for the DVD set.

He went through those times too.

He said those were the best times.

Three Times encapsulates those periods.

These periods are Taiwan's best periods.

Taiwan's best periods.

One interesting thing in the film
is the idea of distance.

If you wanted to go to the North,
it wasn't easy.

Now the flight takes an hour.

Three hours on the motorway.

The distance we felt has disappeared.
That period will never come back.

The best times, Three Times,
will never happen again.

The middle story is about a courtesan.

She was sold to the brothel
when she was very young.

She's bought by the brothel owner

and from the age of about ten years old
she's trained to entertain.

She's trained in every area possible.

When she reaches a certain age,
she's supposed to get married.

She can arrange for
someone to buy her out.

She couldn't because of her younger sister.

Her younger sister was meant to take over
so she could get married.

But her younger sister got pregnant
and married first.

The person she likes, Chen Chang,
is more into revolutions.

He's the intellectual type in Taiwan at that time.

We were under Japanese rule at that time.
He's always thinking about revolution.

This relationship was doomed from the start.

What he wanted was a kind of freedom,
since Taiwan was ruled by Japan.

THERE WAS A PRIVATE BANQUET
TONIGHT

THE RESTAURANT
WAS FULL OF PEOPLE

ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT MR LIANG
WHO ESCAPED TO JAPAN?

I chose to film this part
as a silent film

because I didn't have enough time
for the actors to learn the language of that era.

That's a kind of old Han language.

They didn't have time to practise,
so we resorted to silent film.

I'm quite familiar with the style of silent film.

You need to have exaggerated expressions,

minimal dialogues

and express yourself using body language.

I didn't follow all that,
I shot the film the way I like.

They have dialogues as well.

Their dialogues were based on
what I'd wanted them to say.

HOW OLD ARE YOU?

TEN.

The music...

During editing, I tried...

I tried a lot of different types of music.

None of them were suitable.

It's strange because it hasn't got sound...

I tried ambient sounds,
but that didn't work.

Later I went to see a pianist friend.

After she saw the film,

she began to improvise a tune.

The tune evoked a kind of feeling like the
music was having a dialogue with the film.

She was talking to the film
following her own mood.

I think that's more appropriate.

When I put it together with the film, it worked.

Dadaocheng is close to the Danshui River.

It's one of five trading ports opened
by the Anglo-French coalition

after they defeated the Qing army.

Keelung port is one of them.

If you come in from Keelung...
Danshui port is also there.

You pass Danshui to reach Dadaocheng.

Dadaocheng at that time
was mostly occupied by tea merchants.

Most of them were foreigners.

We had people from all over the world.
It was a prosperous port.

The place we found was around there.

The place is more than 80 years old.

The way I feel is

one's emotions are always affected
by the period one lives in.

Every period has a mood.
The mood affects how people feel.

A Chinese writer, Eileen Chang,

once said,
"We live under people's gazes since birth."

The Chinese believe that you have to
mould yourself to be a human.

Every generation
lives within a certain historical context,

one is shaped by the context one lives in.

The generation now is...

The opposite now happens.

First you have bodily contact

and emotions and feelings come later.

In 1911, the same time
as Flowers Of Shanghai,

there was no place for men and women
to socialise.

Love and feelings were kept indoors.

The third story is about a girl
from the internet.

A young director from my company
wanted to film it as a feature film.

I found the background of
the character very interesting.

She's a young woman.

She's 20 years old.

She studied photography in New York.

She likes photography.

She uses the Lomo camera
to take photographs.

She even does the styling.

Then she puts it on the net.

She writes blogs as well.

She writes about herself differently
at different times.

Her character is very interesting.
She was a premature baby.

She has a heart condition,

her right eye is partially blind,

she's epileptic and on constant medication.

I feel that...

with all this on her...

She's bisexual, for a start.

She has a girlfriend and a boyfriend.

She's also a very intelligent girl.

She composes music as well.

That's the background story
of the character.

We later made minor adjustments
to suit Shu Qi.

Actually Taipei...

Taipei is a complicated city.
Every district is different.

We found a bridge for the film
which crosses the Danshui River

in a somewhat shady suburb.

There are a lot of pickpockets there.

The next location was Wu Fen Pu,
which is also on the outskirts of Taipei.

It's easier for me to express -

I prefer to show this part of the real Taipei.

It's more chaotic here.

I like chaos.

The three stories show how the Chinese
live their way of life.

I feel that the Chinese have not
been able to be themselves.

It's very different from the Western culture.

I feel that we haven't been able to do that.

And here is the team from Three Times!

The seventh film of Hou Hsiao-Hsien
to be shown at the Cannes Film Festival.

After Daughter Of The Nile,
In The Hands Of A Puppetmaster,

which won the Prix du Jury in 1993,

Good Men Good Women,
Goodbye South Goodbye,

Flowers Of Shanghai,

and Millennium Mambo

which introduced us to Shu Qi.

Shu Qi, the lead actress in Three Times.

After working together with Shu Qi
in Millennium Mambo...

Shu Qi first saw Millennium Mambo
in Cannes.

It was a shock to her.

They told me that she was crying
in her hotel room afterwards.

She hadn't seen herself
on screen like that before.

She'd only been involved in films
that have many short takes.

It affected her a lot.

She started to put more thought into acting,

more thought into her performances.

We kept in touch after that.

I was also curious to see
how she'd perform next.

I wanted her right from the start.

Next we have an actor well known
to festival-goers, Chang Chen.

We've seen him in Wong Kar Wai's
Happy Together

and 2046,
shown in last year's competition.

Chang Chen,
the whole idea started from Shu Qi.

A love story must have a man in it.

It's not easy to find one because...

There are a lot of young actors
in the Chinese film industry,

both in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

In terms of performance,

do they have the confidence
and ability to act opposite Shu Qi?

I couldn't think of many.

So I decided on Chang Chen.
He was also free at that time.

He's got the experience of working with
many different directors,

like Edward Yang and Wong Kar Wai.

At that time he had just finished a film about
a chess player with Tian Zhuang Zhuang.

I felt that he was the right person for the role.

Hou Hsiao-Hsien, one of the masters
of Taiwanese cinema.

Working with actors,

the most important thing is to study
their earlier performances.

My judgment depends on how well
I know them through that study.

You'll know their form after lengthy
observations and conversations.

That's how I always decide on my actors.

I don't rehearse the scenes
over and over again.

I don't have a firm idea of what I want
from actors. I just give them suggestions.

My scenes are normally very long.

They have to improvise their own dialogue.

The script isn't strict.

I forgot to talk about
the message of Three Times.

I feel that every era has
its own distinctive sense.

These eras will never come again.
Time keeps moving forward.

One's environment and one's thoughts
keep changing as well.

They'll never come again.

It's not that they're good times, it's because
we're recalling that we call them good times.

The 1966 story is about my growing up,
the innocence and purity that come with it.

It was a very simple time.

That's how society was to me.

Simple and uncomplicated.

When I was filming
the contemporary segment,

I felt that everything was so complicated,
we had too much information.

These people didn't know where they stood.

They didn't know where to stand as well.

They wasted too much time making choices.

That's just my personal view.

Whether it's now, 1911 or 1966,

it's just my personal view
of the three periods.

If you ask some youngsters now how they feel,
they'll tell you that they feel good.

They feel that they're the best generation.

That's their feeling.
That's my view.

But for me, it's the period around 1966
that will remain the best in my memory.