Three Times
IFC Films | Release Date: April 26, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
82
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The Hollywood ReporterRichard James Havis
Three Times offers a careful examination of the changing ways people have reacted to each other during the past 100 years. As such, it's an interesting essay but certainly a minor work from a master. Read full review
100
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
It's simply one of the most beautiful films he's (Hou Hsiao Hsien) made to date. Read full review
100
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Three Times is great cinema, pop romance that carries a special charge. Read full review
100
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Three Times, one of the peaks of his (Hou Hsiao-hsien) career, may be your last chance to see his work inside a movie theater. Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Three varieties of love: unfulfilled, mercenary, meaningless. All photographed with such visual beauty that watching the movie is like holding your breath so the butterfly won’t stir. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen Johnson
One of the best films of the year. Read full review
100
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
The style is pure Hou: richly textured atmosphere, tiptoeing camerawork and long, languorous takes of scenes full of privileged moments of human activity. Read full review
90
L.A. Weekly
I urge you to see the ineffably beautiful Three Times however you can, lest you go on thinking that Hou's greatness is merely the supposition of obscurantist critics intent on reserving their highest praise for those films that nobody else can actually see. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Finds Taiwanese master Hou Hsiao-hsien at his most intimate and romantic. The deceptive simplicity of these vignettes, written by Chu Tien-wen, throws into relief Hou's formidable storytelling strengths and visual acuity - his way with actors, his subtlety and expressiveness. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Another triumph of modesty from a master who deserves real, paying audiences, not just the adoration of besotted film critics. Read full review
88
Miami HeraldMarta Barber
Politics in Three Times is as subtle as the stories being told. The film is probably too slow, too silent and too long for most audiences. But look beyond the quietness, and you'll discover a three-gem jewel. Read full review
80
SalonStephanie Zacharek
In these three potent miniatures, Hou Hsiao-hsien suggests that time passes differently when you're deeply in love. He captures the mystical quality of that time on film, making us feel as if we're living in it, rather than simply watching it. Read full review
80
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien's hypnotically beautiful cinematic trilogy Three Times doesn't just illuminate faces and objects; it seems to fill them up, as if they were lighted from within. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
A sampler of novella-length films set in three different time periods and starring the same two actors, Hou Hsiao-hsien's Three Times resembles one of those delicate trios served at fine restaurants, each a fresh interpretation of a common ingredient. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
Anchored by the performance of Shu Qi, who has come a long way from her days as a nudie pin-up. She's a first-rate actress. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
A lyrical, subtle, chaste and nearly wordless romance. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Do Hou's films deserve to be seen? Absolutely, if only to end the myth that they're too perfect for this world. Read full review
70
VarietyJay Weissberg
Less accessible than recent "Cafe Lumiere," picture will appeal strongly to fans. Read full review
70
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
My first impression of Three Times was that it was high middling Hou--conceptually bold but unevenly executed. The movie's implicit themes of time travel, eternal recurrence, and the transmigration of souls seemed as muddied by the director's devotion to Shu as they were dissipated in the confusion of the final present-day section. But Three Times improves on a second viewing. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Features minimal dialogue. It is mostly about mood and images, and it moves at a glacial pace. Read full review
60
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
The film's trouble is in what happens in each section: not enough. Once the atmosphere of each period is established, the story is too weak to interest--and the characterizations are too thin to compensate. Read full review
60
Washington PostStephen Hunter
The first section of Three Times is fabulous; the second is fascinating if remote; and the third a jangly, modernist mess. Read full review
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