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Three Times — Main characters

Special note on actors and actresses playing various roles in the three segments:

All three stories of Three Times are built around a pair of lovers. Chang Chen and Shu Qi play these lovers in all three stories. Other cast members also play various roles in each of the three stories. In addition, the name "May" in one form or another appears in all three stories.

Shu Qi is "May" in Story One, "Ah Mei-1" in Store Two and "Jing" in Story Three.

"Haruko" of Story One is "Ah Mei-2" in Story Two and Chen's rejected girlfriend "Blue" in Story Three.

Chen Chang (sic) plays "Chen" in Story One; "Mr. Chang" in Story Two and "Zhen" in Story Three.

May's mother in Story One plays a madam in Story Two while another madam of Story Two will play Jing's mother in Story Three.

One of the women of Story Two plays the girlfriend of Jing in Story Three.

Director: HOU Hsiao Hsien (Chinese-Taiwanese, Taipei)
Year released: 2005
Running time: 2:06
Settings: 1) 1960s industrial town, countryside, 2) 1911 courtesan's establishment, 3) 2005 Taipei
IMDb: Three Times
Release data (Box Office Mojo): Three Times

Kaohsiung 1966

  • Chen: main male protagonist who loves May
  • May: the main female protagonist
  • Haruko: a pool girl who works briefly at the place where May will work

Dadaochung 1911

  • Mr. Chang: main male protagonist, diplomat involved with Taiwan's struggle for independence
  • Ah Mei-1: main female protagonist, a courtesan who is beginning to age
  • Ah Mei-2: a younger courtesan originally scheduled to take over the duties of Ah Mei-1
  • 10-year-old girl: to be trained as a courtesan

Taipei 2005

  • Zhen: main male protagonist, works in a digital photoshop and has a girlfriend names Blue
  • Jing: main female protagonist, a singer with epilepsy
  • Micky: Jing's female lover

Topics of focus for this film:

Context: Role of cultural contexts in shaping these romantic narratives (place, socio-economic group, time periods)

Layering: Is its use indicative of something cultural in Taiwan or East Asia or not?

Modes of communication, especially "letters" (in whatever form).

Role of music in the three stories.

Film segments / Film modules

Module 01: Scenes 00-06 (42 min.)
Module 02: Scenes 07-13 (39 min.)
Module 03: Scenes 14-18 (45 min.)

On campus availability

Media Center (Moffitt) — DVD 6514