Review of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2011) by Ray H — 05 Aug 2011

This movie looks really good. The sets and costuming are interesting. Both of the lead actors are pretty good.

The story is a bit confusing. The story switches between present day Shanghai and somewhere China circa 1840 or so. We follow 2 pairs of women who are laotong or life-long, deeply bound sisters/soul-mates. We are given to understand this was common practice in 1800s China. The reason seems to be that women were seen as commodities to be given to their husbands families. The husbands were chosen for them; in a grab-bag kind of way. Some women were more lucky than others. There are, and have always been, a lot of bad dudes out there (and women of a similar ilk). For any kind of true friendship and love among equals; the laotong was the way to go. Men here, are only set pieces.

I liked the historical references abt life in China, then and now. But, these are only brief glimpses. I was hoping to see more of the cities and countryside; but the film was shot almost entirely inside. The context of contemporary and 1800s China is only very briefly hinted at.

Character development is sketchy. We are following 4 people in 2 different time periods. Apparently, there just was not time to develop all 4 of them.

The filmmaker chooses to take a "big picture" view of things. They want to draw a parallel of the laotong relationship, then and now. I thought this was an admirable goal. And, I thought there was a lot of truth in what was described.

The problem was; the story did not draw me in. The story unfolded. I was wondering how it was going to wind up. But, it was not a compelling story on an emotional level. We just did not know enough abt any of the characters.

This movie might appeal more to women. I am not aware of many comparable relationships in contemporary America. I have known of men w/ similar strong friendships. Some women, of my acquaintance, have very good women friends. It seems that competitiveness gets in the way in the US. I suspect the Chinese, and maybe some other Asian societies, may still have these kinds of relationships among women.

You could view this movie as a kind of cultural/historical trip. I found it worthwhile from that point-of-view.