TECHNICAL INFORMATION
Country: Taiwan, France
Language: Chinese
Year: 2001
Running Time: 116 min
SYNOPSIS
Hsiao-Kang sells watches on the streets of Taipei for a living. A few days after his father’s death, he meets a young woman, Shiang-Chyi who as it turns out leaves for Paris the very next day.

Troubled by the behaviour of his mother who prays constantly for the spirit of her late husband to return, Hsiao-Kang takes refuge in the memory of his brief encounter with Shiang-Chyi. In an effort to bridge the miles between them, he runs around setting all the watches and clocks in Taipei to Paris time. Meanwhile, in Paris, Shiang-Chyi confronts events that mysteriously seem to be connected with Hsiao-Kang.
CREDITS
Director Tsai Ming-Liang
Screenplay Tsai Ming-Liang
Screenplay Pi-Ying Yang
Producer Bruno Pesery
Executive Producer Bruno Pesery
Associate Producer Chinlin Hsieh
Production Company Arena Films
Production Designer Kam Tim Yip
Director of Photography Benoit Delhomme
Lighting Jacky Mon
Sound Tuu-Chih Du
Sound Tang Hsiang-Chu
Editor Sheng-Chang Chen
CAST
Chen Shiang-Chyi
Cicilia Yip
Lee Kang-Sheng
Lu Yi-Ching
Miao Tien
ADDITIONAL INFO
Grand Prix Technique Cannes, Best Director Bangkok, Grand Jury Prize & Silver Hugo Chicago, NETPAC Award Brisbane, Best Film & Best Director & Best Supporting Actress (Yi-Ching Lu) Asia Pacific Film Festival, Best Film & Best Actor (Kang-sheng Lee) & Best Cinematography Cinemanila, Special Jury Award Taipei Golden Horse. From the director of THE WAYWARD CLOUD and VIVE L'AMOUR, Official Selections Edinburgh, Karlovy Vary, Toronto, New York, Jeruzalem, Pusan, Montreal World Cinema, Barcelona Asian, Buenos Aires, Cinemanila, Cinema Novo Bruges, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Melbourne, New Zealand, Riga, St. Petersburg, Sao Paulo, Singapore, Thessaloniki, Rio de Janeiro, Ljubljana, Lisbon, Jakarta, Oslo, Copenhagen, Sofia, Gijon, Kerala, New Delhi, Madrid
 
Tsai Ming-Liang  | director
Tsai Ming-Liang was born and raised in Kuching, Malaysia where he was introduced by his grand-parents to the popular cinema of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and other Asian countries. In 1977 he moved to Taiwan and went to study film and drama at the Chinese Culture University, during which time he became acquainted with the European New Wave cinema. After graduation he wrote and staged plays, often beginning to explore the themes of contemporary life, loneliness and alienation which became regular themes of his films. For nearly ten years, he worked in TV and developed scenarios and then in 1989 and 1990 directed a series of telefilms, including THE KID, which marked his move towards cinema and during which he discovered his favourite actor Lee Kang-Sheng. Lee was to take the central role in all his films from REBELS OF THE NEON GOD onwards. With this film and with VIVE L'AMOUR, which won the Golden Lion Award at the 1994 Venice Film Festival, Tsai began to be acclaimed as a major new voice in the Asian cinema. Over the series of films that followed he came to be recognised as a new modern master of cinema to stand alongside his fellow Taiwanese Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Edward Yang. He has received numerous awards, most recently for the Berlin Silver Bear for THE WAYWARD CLOUD.  In 2009, he completed his tenth film, FACE, which was selected in competition at Cannes.  
Filmography
2009    FACE
2006    I DON'T WANT TO SLEEP ALONE
2005    THE WAYWARD CLOUD
2003    GOODBYE DRAGON INN
2002    THE SKYWALK IS GONE (short)
2001    WHAT TIME IS IT THERE?
1998    THE HOLE
1997    THE RIVER
1994    VIVE L'AMOUR
1992    REBELS OF THE NEON GOD
 
TRAILERS
 
 
PUBLICITY & REVIEWS
AWARDS
Year Category Awarded By Award Result Award Recipient
2002 Grand Jury Prize Golden Horse Awards Winner
2001 Technical Award Cannes Film Festival Winner
2001 Official Competition Cannes Film Festival Nominee