Roger Ebert, who championed the film at Cannes, gave it four stars out of four in his review for the "Chicago Sun-Times":"Three stories about a man and a woman, all three using the same actors. Three years: 1966, 1911, 2005. Three varieties of love: unfulfilled, mercenary, meaningless. All photographed with such visual beauty that watching the movie is like holding your breath so the butterfly won’t stir."