Tsai Ming-liang's "What Time Is It There?" focuses on a man in Taipei who sells a watch to a woman headed to Paris. He resets all clocks to Paris time, which convinces his mom that her deceased husband is trying to contact her.
The movie contains long scenes, so you need a serious attention span to watch it. At times it seems like a B movie due to the limited action. But overall, it's about the difficulties of making connections with people. I get the feeling that Taiwan's complicated international status (countries are only allowed to recognize one China, and most of them go with mainland China, so Taiwan doesn't even have UN membership) adds to the difficulty of making connections with people who are abroad.
Overall, I thought that it was an OK, not great movie. The end contains a surprise, although its authenticity is questionable. Probably the only cast member whom western viewers will recognize is Jean-Pierre Léaud, best known for playing a character in some of François Truffaut's movies (one of which - "The 400 Blows" - appears in this movie).
PS: UTC+8 is Taipei's time zone.
The movie contains long scenes, so you need a serious attention span to watch it. At times it seems like a B movie due to the limited action. But overall, it's about the difficulties of making connections with people. I get the feeling that Taiwan's complicated international status (countries are only allowed to recognize one China, and most of them go with mainland China, so Taiwan doesn't even have UN membership) adds to the difficulty of making connections with people who are abroad.
Overall, I thought that it was an OK, not great movie. The end contains a surprise, although its authenticity is questionable. Probably the only cast member whom western viewers will recognize is Jean-Pierre Léaud, best known for playing a character in some of François Truffaut's movies (one of which - "The 400 Blows" - appears in this movie).
PS: UTC+8 is Taipei's time zone.