| Overview: | A co-production with/With location shooting in mainland China, this is also the first time a Hong Kong film directly tackles an important page of modern Chinese history in an epic scale. It met serious censorship problems with the Chinese authorities and, as a result, the release (in both Hong Kong and China) was postponed for over a year, after heavy cuts by the Mainland Chinese authorities.
"The Soong Sisters" is a very good looking film. It's a massive film that must of had a nice budget to work with. It brings to mind the large scale American films of the 50's and 60's. It's the sort of film that isn't made much anymore. Director Cheung, of "An Autumn's Tale" fame, makes sure every shot is visually interesting.
Maggie Chueng stands out for most of most of the film. Her performance is moving. Yeoh comes across as sour in a restrained role. The problem is she didn't have much to work with. Her role is small and she never has a chance to show how well she can act. Wu, who has yet to impress me, is the impulsive youngest sister. She does a passable job.
The only weak links here is the script. It's come under fire for it's historical inaccuracies. It's to be expected with an period piece. Character development could have been a little tighter.
Overall, great cinematography, an interesting story and an outstanding soundtrack by Kitaro. Good to great performances by Maggie, Michelle, and Vivian Wu.
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