This Chinese film was in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die some time ago, I read about it and it sounded like the kind of film concept suited to being listed in this book, I was hoping it would be good. Basically, Hsiao Kang (Li Kangsheng) is a young vendor selling watches on the streets of Taipei. He lives with his mother (Lu Yi-Ching) a grim home life and was devastated by the death of his father (Miao Tien). One day, he meets a young woman named Shiang-chyi (Chen Xiangqi) who is leaving the country soon to travel to Paris, France for an unseen duration. She is interested in purchasing the watch he is wearing on his wrist, and he gives her his phone number to talk about it, after striking a connection with her. Shiang-chyi calls Hsiao, who agrees to sell his watch to her, and they meet one last time before she departs. With the young woman gone, Hsiao is interested to know the current time in Paris, making a phone call and asking the time he finds out France is seven hours behind China. Following this, he finds himself overcome by a desire to set every clock he sees to Paris time. He also finds himself becoming more interested in French culture, especially French films. Hsiao rents some famous French films, including François Truffaut's classic Les 400 Coups (The 400 Blows). Shiang-chyi meanwhile has an almost uneventful time whilst in Paris, apart from a strange and coincidental encounter with the aging actor Jean-Pierre Leaud, the star of The 400 Blows. It is an intriguing if slightly odd story of a young man wanting to maintain a connection with a young woman he has affection for by changing all clocks to the same time zone as hers, it is good to see the sights, sounds and cultures of both urban Taipei and Paris, it is a slow pace throughout, and perhaps a little long, but it is a reasonable romantic drama. Worth watching, in my opinion!
Review of What Time Is It There?
