Reviews

"Three Times" is a poetic movie, one which you can't describe in terms of conventional storytelling like arc of story or evolution of the characters.This movie is made of sensations and glances, gestures that can mean everything or nothing at all.

The first story, set in 1966, its called "Times of Love". This is the most conventionally narrated part of the film,it tells the story of May, a young girl who works in a pool. She fell in love with a soldier who she never met only by reading a love letter he had send to his girlfriend, who worked in the same place. Perhaps what May love is love itself; not the boy behind the words,but the feeling captured in the letter. Hou centers his camera in her, scrutinizing her movements, her sights, while , in the background, "Smoke gets in your eyes", by The Platters, fits perfectly in the mood of her situation. This episode can remember you "In The Mood For Love", by Wong Kar-Wai; a reason for this is the presence in both movies of the great cinematographer Mark Lee Ping Bing.

The second story takes place in 1911 and it's called "Times of Freedom". It's the most haunting part of the movie, the most difficult for a conventional spectator, too. It takes the form of a old silent melodrama, with written inter-titles instead of spoken dialog. Set in a distinguished brothel, tells the story of a young politician who dreams with the freedom for his country, Taiwan, under the Japanese occupation. The theme is the clash between the social ideals and the private life. With a superb attention for the details, and a extraordinary work of the artistic department, Hou transports you to a extinguished time, one in which people live, behave and love in a very different way.

The last episode, "Times of Youth", is set in 2005. The set is a populous Asiatic city, ant the main character is a epileptic girl who is confused between two lovers. It's the weakest episode of the three.

"La Educacion De las Hadas" is the new movie from Spanish director Jose Luis Cuerda, his follow-up to "La Lengua De las Mariposas", a local hit back in 1999. Cuerda is known for his subtle sentimentalism and his funny approach to all themes (Including the end of the world, see "Total"). The movie is based in a novel from french writer Didier van Cawuelaert. It tells the story of Nicolas,(Ricardo Darin) who falls in love with two people, Ingrid (Irene Jacob) and her seven years old son Raul. All of them have hidden secrets and wounds that will appear in the process of knowing each other. This could have been a melodramatic movie if not were for the light touches which are the trademark of the director, and for the magical underlines that surrounds the narration. The cast is fine, with Darin as good as ever, and Irene Jacob with her best role since "Rouge", but the real surprise is the newcomer Bebe, in his film debut after selling thousands of discs in Spain. She gives charm and interest to the Algerian immigrant Sezar, who appears like a faerie for the rest of the characters.

"Kini and Adams" is a very human movie from African director Idrissa Ouedraogo. It tells the story of the two friends of the title and their dream of leave their small town and start a new life in the city with a old car they are repairing. It's a sad comedy, very funny at moments. The acting is wonderful and the beautiful African landscape is very well filmed, with a lot of color. The movie deals with the subject of how the poverty can affect the personal relationships, and the way the director handles it remind me the Charlie Chaplin movies, whose themes are similar in a certain way. It has been a surprise for me, the African cinema is absolutely unknown in occident, and movies like this prove that it deserves more attention.