Review of What Time Is It There? (2001) by Richard W — 23 Aug 2005

(SHORT REVIEW):

This is the type of film that gushing critics might call "a brilliant study of urban isolation". I call it boring. Director Tsai Ming-liang has made what amounts to little more than a series of static shots that show characters engaged in the mundane activities of everyday life (and since the shots aren't particularly well-composed, the film is a genuine chore to sit through). I was on the film's tedious wavelength for about the first ten or so minutes, but it lost me when a character got out of bed in the middle of the night to urinate in a plastic bag for no apparent reason. When a film presents itself as a series of still-lifes, it should at least be able to keenly observe the way we behave...not undermine itself with pretensious moments that are supposed to "symbolize" something. The movie, which purports to deal with how a family reacts to the death of their patriarch, is almost entirely bankrupt emotionally, which is odd considering that the subject matter lends itself to an emotional treatment. There are some scattered moments that are quite touching, such as one in which the dead man's son lies awake late at night and begins to cry. But these moments are few and far between, and despite the fact that many critics claimed the film was a comedy, I didn't crack a smile once during [I]What Time Is It There?[/I]. The movie ends with an amusing image that is meant to represent the cyclical nature of life, but the shot is simply a reminder that what has led up to it has been bland and forgettable. Films this dull are doubly unfortunate, because they punish the curiousity of filmgoers who are willing to watch a non-commercial movie. In other words, [I]What Time Is It There?[/I] gives a bad name to art.