Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is an English-language drama set in 19th century remote China, the film revolves around the lifelong friendship of Lily and Snow Flower and their imprisonment by rigid cultural codes of conduct for women. The script is based on the novel by Lisa See.
In a parallel story in present day Shanghai, the laotong’s descendants, Nina and Sophia, struggle to maintain the intimacy of their own childhood friendship in the face of demanding careers, complicated love lives, and a relentlessly evolving Shanghai. Drawing on the lessons of the past, the two modern women must understand the story of their ancestral connection, hidden from them in the folds of the antique white silk fan, or risk losing one another forever. What unfolds are two stories, generations apart, but everlasting in their universal notion of love, hope and friendship.
About the Story
In nineteenth century China, two girls both named Snow Flower (Gianna Jun) and Lily (Li Bing Bing) are forever bonded together as sworn sisters. They are paired as laotong by a matchmaker who is also responsible for arranging their marriages. They are isolated by their families and communicate by writing in a secret sisterly language, Nu shu (a historical practice in China in that period) on a unique Chinese fan that Snow Flower possesses.
Meanwhile, in the present day Shanghai, their descendants Sophia Liao and Nina Wei struggle with the intimacy of their own pure and intense childhood friendship. As teenagers, Sophia and Nina were introduced to the idea of laotong, and they signed a traditional laotong contract on the cover of Canto-pop Faye Wong’s album Fu Zao (Restless in English).
Faye Wong was their favorite singer and their liberated dancing to the “degenerate” sounds of the cheerful refrain “la cha bor” was one of the reasons Sophia’s stepmother attempted to separate them. Eventually they are separated but come together again when Sophia falls into a coma after being struck by a taxi while cycling. Reunited at long last, they must come to understand the story of the strong and close ancestral connection hidden from them in the folds of the antique white silk fan or lose one another forever in the process.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Directed by: Wayne Wang
Starring: Russell Wong, Bingbing Li, Arche Kao, Gianna Jun, Coco Chiang, Vivian Wu, Zhebing Gong, Lilia Zhou
Screenplay by: Angela Workman, Ronald Bass, Michael Ray, Lisa See
Production Design by: Lim Chung Man
Cinematography by: Richard Wong
Film Editing by: Deirdre Slevin
Art Direction by: Molly Page
Music by: Rachel Portman
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sexuality, violence / disturbing images and drug use.
Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Release Date: July 15, 2011
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