Movielogr
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2011)
Directed by Wayne Wang
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A story set in 19th century China and centered on the lifelong friendship between two girls who develop their own secret code as a way to contend with the rigid cultural norms imposed on women.
Rated PG-13 | Length 104 minutes
Actors
Li Bingbing | Jun Ji-hyun | Hugh Jackman | Vivian Wu | Wu Jiang | Russell Wong | Coco Chiang Yi | Fang Zhoubo | Hu Qing-Yun | Cao Shi-Ping | Zhang Ruijia | Sun Feihu | Lu Zhong | Lu Yi-Ching | Archie Kao | Ding Xiao-Hui | Zhang Li-Qiu | Danping Shen
Viewing History (seen 1 time)
| Date Viewed | Device | Format | Source | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02/22/2019 | TV | DVD | Library | 7 stars |
| (Average) 7 stars |
Viewing Notes
More Wayne Wang. This is a cool flick about the Chinese practice of foot binding on young girls to make them more appealing for arranged marriage. Also brings to light the secret language between young women bc they were not taught to write or read in the traditional sense; they were taught general homemaking skills.
I really like how they developed this story to be parallel between the present and the past using the same actors. I like both Li BingBing and Gianna Jun altho it’s a bit odd seeing them portray teenagers (Li BingBing was 37 at the time of filming). Somehow it all works for a good period drama and present day mystery. Initially I thought it was strange to have the two leads speak English even tho it wasn’t their native language (obviously so) until I realized that Gianna is Korean so it would’ve been hard to have them both speak Mandarin. That said, it’s odd to hear them converse in English when you know they wouldn’t normally do that.
Hugh Jackman has a small part that took me by surprise. Didn’t know he was in this movie so it was nuts when he just appears. But it’s a good role and he sings!
There’s a 30 minute featurette which is nice bc they talk to the author of the book plus the women who produced the movie in addition to Wayne Wang and both leads. Some neat insight and backstory on the research done for the novel and how the film came to be. Li BingBing talks about how she spent all her downtime off set just practicing her English.
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