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What Time Is It There?
Winstar Cinema
FILM:
MPAA RATING: Not Rated
Starring
Kang-sheng Lee,
Shiang-chyi Chen,
Yi-ching Lu,
Tien Miao,
Chao-jung Chen,
Cecilia Yip,
and
Jean-Pierre Léaud
A young Taipei watch vendor (Lee) falls in love with a girl (Chen) just as she leaves to go to Paris, inspiring him to set all the clocks in the city to French time.
| GENRE(S): |
Romance
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Tsai Ming-liang
Yang Pi-ying
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Tsai Ming-liang
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: August 20, 2002
Video: August 20, 2002
Theatrical: January 11, 2002
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
116 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
France / Taiwan |
| LANGUAGE(S): |
Cantonese / French / Mandarin (with English subtitles) |
Original Taiwanese title "Ni neibian jidian"
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
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.
100
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.
90
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.
90
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.
90
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.
90
Chicago Reader
Staff (Not Credited)
Tsai Ming-liang's most exciting and original to date.
88
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.
88
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.
80
Village Voice
J. Hoberman
Filled with purposeful, if absurd, activity rendered gravely hilarious through Tsai's deadpan, distanced representation of extreme behavior.
80
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
The story that emerges has elements of romance, tragedy and even silent-movie comedy.
80
LA Weekly
Manohla Dargis
Takes raw grief as its point of departure only to play out as a comedy of deadpan heartbreak.
80
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.
80
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
The result is a film of surprise and wonder, lyrically attuned to the ticking intensity of romance.
80
Salon.com
Charles Taylor
Tsai Ming-Liang's new movie about urban isolation reinvents the delicate, poetic shadow play of silent movies.
75
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.
75
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.
70
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.
67
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.
50
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.
25
San Francisco Chronicle
Steven Winn
Things happen in a flat, deadpan way.
 The average user rating for this movie is 9.2 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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