I Was Robbed!

Or was it a gift?

Tonight i watched the best movie i've seen in a couple of years, but i'm not sure why i say that. Yes, in part it was because it was a Chinese movie. Yes, in part because the lead actress was Shu Qi. But more than that, because it was really different.

The movie is titled, in English, "Three Times," and is made up of three short stories, the first taking place in 1966 China, the second in 1911 China, and the last in 2005 Taiwan. Each short follows the relationship between one couple, played by Shu Qi and Chang Chen in all three.

What made it compelling for me was that the dialog was kept to something less than minimal, less than the least you would have thought they could get by with. It is an entirely visual movie and it is pulled off wonderfully. In fact, the entire middle section is shot as a silent film with no audible dialog at all, just subtitles.

I watched the first two shorts on Google Video with English subtitles, only to find out that i had been robbed and the third short wasn't included! I found the movie on the Chinese video site Tudou.com and was able to watch the third, and last, short there, but it didn't have subtitles and i just had to imagine the content of the little dialog that was included — which i always enjoy doing as it adds a whole new dimension to any movie. So, was i robbed? Or was it a gift? Hmmmm...

Wonderful movie and i highly recommend it. Now, if i could only figure out what the third short was about. ?