Director: Tsai Ming-liang
Runtime: 115 mins
Country: Taiwan
Language: Chinese, French with English subtitles
Rating: M18

Awards

Best Director, Best Cinematography, Grand Jury Prize
Chicago International Film Festival

Special Jury Award
Golden Horse Awards

Synopsis

An underseen gem in Tsai’s oeuvre, the film begins with the death of the street vendor Hsiao-kang’s (Lee Kang-sheng) father (Miao Tien). Grief leaves him fearful of the dark and increasingly withdrawn. Before leaving for Paris, a young woman, Shiang-chyi (Chen Shiang-chyi), buys a watch from him, prompting Hsiao-kang to become obsessed with her and with French culture. By night, he watches François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows (1959); by day, he obsessively resets clocks across Taipei to Paris time.

Through his signature static shots and dry humour, Tsai Ming-liang explores grief, absence, and the longing for connection across time zones—and even beyond life and death. One is invited to experience time differently through the film’s deliberate slowness and attention to the mundane, while its cross-cutting between Taipei and Paris reflects the uncertainties of modernity, displacement, and identity.

This screening is part of the programme Past Time. For more screenings, please click here.

Friends of AFA members, please read the membership guide on how to purchase your discounted tickets and redeem your complimentary tickets.

Oldham Theatre’s opening hours

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Important Notice:

Do note that Oldham Theatre operates on a free seating arrangement. Doors will open 10 minutes before showtime so arrive early to choose a seat and avoid disrupting the screenings as AFA does not play ads and screenings will start promptly.

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T&Cs

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