Times Hou Hsiao Hsien [2021]: Three

Three Times (2005) is a masterpiece by Taiwanese auteur Hou Hsiao-hsien. The film is a poetic triptych that explores love, memory, and time. It features the same two lead actors—Shu Qi and Chang Chen—playing different couples across three distinct eras of Taiwanese history.

Theme: The conflict between personal longing and political duty, focusing on a courtesan and a revolutionary. 3. A Time for Youth (2005) Setting: Modern-day Taipei. three times hou hsiao hsien

If the 1980s films treat time as geography (a house, a village), the 1990s masterpiece Flowers of Shanghai transforms time into a closed system of ritual. Set in late 19th-century Shanghai’s “flower houses” (exclusive brothels), the film annihilates linear plot. There is no war, no migration, no external event. Instead, time is measured by the slow, ceremonial repetition of opium pipes being lit, tea being poured, silk robes being adjusted, and mahjong tiles being shuffled. Three Times (2005) is a masterpiece by Taiwanese

Throughout the film, Hou Hsiao-hsien employs his signature lyrical and meditative style, using long takes, stunning cinematography, and a minimalist score to evoke a sense of nostalgia and melancholy. The film's themes of love, loss, and longing are timeless and universal, transcending cultural and linguistic boundaries. Theme: The conflict between personal longing and political