What Time Is It There?

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Tsai builds this shimmering story with deft, deadpan wit and a warm, understated love of the absurd, both in life and afterlife.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Tsai's cinematic style is unique: He unfolds his stories in long, static shots that let you discover their surprises and mysteries on your own. And that's great fun. What Time Is It There? is perky, entertaining, and one of a kind.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

Tsai not only gives the audience a chance to breathe but also lets us luxuriate in the mood of deadpan melancholy his movie evokes so beautifully.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Tsai's latest, What Time Is It There?, runs his usual themes and obsessions through a whimsical premise worthy of Wong Kar-Wai, striking such an exquisite balance between humor and despair that the moods comfortably coexist, just as they do in real life.

Newsweek David Ansen

This wonderful, one-of-a-kind movie hops from Taiwan to France, from tragedy to deadpan comedy and, in its mysterious conclusion, from the worldly to the otherworldly.

Chicago Reader Staff (Not Credited)

Tsai Ming-liang's most exciting and original to date.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

It haunts you, you can't forget it, you admire its conception and are able to resolve some of the confusions you had while watching it.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

While its careful pace and seemingly opaque story may not satisfy every moviegoer's appetite, the film's final scene is soaringly, transparently moving.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

Filled with purposeful, if absurd, activity rendered gravely hilarious through Tsai's deadpan, distanced representation of extreme behavior.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

The story that emerges has elements of romance, tragedy and even silent-movie comedy.

LA Weekly Manohla Dargis

Takes raw grief as its point of departure only to play out as a comedy of deadpan heartbreak.

TV Guide Ken Fox

More of the same from Taiwanese auteur Tsai Ming-liang, which is good news to anyone who's fallen under the sweet, melancholy spell of this unique director's previous films.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

The result is a film of surprise and wonder, lyrically attuned to the ticking intensity of romance.

Salon.com Charles Taylor

Tsai Ming-Liang's new movie about urban isolation reinvents the delicate, poetic shadow play of silent movies.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Very slowly builds to an emotional payoff in a devastating scene where the three main characters simultaneously seek relief in sex.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

This movie is not of a style that will speak to general audiences. It is nearly wordless, spare to a fare-thee-well.

New Times (L.A.) Andy Klein

Those with an interest in new or singular sorts of film experiences will find What Time Is It There? well worth the time.

Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones

Is nothing if not foreign, but not in the sense of national demarcations of language and custom. It speaks a different cinematic language, one that tosses off the usual rules of camerawork and narrative structure.

New York Magazine Peter Rainer

An art piece in which everything seems to be a metaphor for something else, and as pleasing as it is to watch, it's too pretentious by half.

San Francisco Chronicle Steven Winn

Things happen in a flat, deadpan way.