Last night I saw The Soong Sisters, or Song Jia Huang Chao. No, this is not a new movie, it's 10 years old, in fact. It's new to me though! As a fan of Michelle Yeoh, it's a title that I've had on my movie-list for a long time. Finally I've seen it and I was very impressed! I highly recommend this movie to anyone who is interested in Chinese history, Taiwanese independence, or also to folks who just enjoy excellent cinema in general.
The story is about China during the early-to-mid 1900s when the time of true imperialism was ending to make way for a new era of intense political strife between the Communist Party and the Nationalist Party. The focus of the story was centered around the three sisters of the Soong family; the daughters of Charlie Soong, a prominent Shanghai businessman and Christian missionary. The three daughters, Ai-ling (Michelle Yeoh), Ching-ling (Maggie Cheung) and Mei-ling (Vivian Wu), after going to school in the U.S., grew up to marry the richest, most powerful and influential men in their time-- Premier of the Republic of China (H.H. Kung), the Father of Modern China and first President of the Republic of China, (Sun Yat-sen) and military leader and succeeding President, (Chiang Kai-shek), respectively. These woman soon went on to develop qualities of wealth, power and influence all on their own, and were first in revealing to China the face of the modern, independent woman. Together as sisters, and also separated through political difference, the three women were at the center of the most powerful family in all of China, and quite possibly the world.
This fascinating, intense and totally engrossing film takes its audience through a close-up and personal journey through the lives of the Soong extended family and explores the interaction of those at the very top of 20th century China's government and financial heirarchy. United as one China, then torn apart by civil war and finally invaded by Japan, the country was in the hands of the Soong family throughout its period of complex political upheaval, desperate search for national identity and intense struggle for financial independence. This is a masterpiece of Hong Kong Cinema that offers something for every kind of viewer to enjoy.
2 comments:
Love Michelle Yeoh, but haven't seen this one yet. Can't quite decide if I like the dramatic roles over the fighting ones. But as she passes 50 soon, we might start to see more of them. Looking forward to seeing the Children Huang Shi next month, though!
Loved reading this thhanks
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