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 three Soong sisters marry and become part of China's most elite families: Ai-ling (Michelle Khan), who married the richest man in China; Ching-ling (Maggie Cheung), who married Sun Yat-sen; and May-ling (Vivian Wu), who married Chiang Kai-shek. Censored by the Chinese government during and after production, and banned until recently. 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.

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 three Soong sisters marry and become part of China's most elite families: Ai-ling (Michelle Khan), who married the richest man in China; Ching-ling (Maggie Cheung), who married Sun Yat-sen; and May-ling (Vivian Wu), who married Chiang Kai-shek. Censored by the Chinese government during and after production, and banned until recently. 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.

Japanese composer and recording artist Kitaro's second foray into the world of feature films, after the Golden Globe-winning Heaven & Earth, is The Soong Sisters, a Hong Kong-made drama following the lives of three siblings who live eventful lives while witnessing the modern social and economic evolution of the People's Republic of China.

Directed by Mabel Cheung, the film stars three actresses familiar to western audiences as the eponymous sisters: Maggie Cheung (Irma Vep), Michelle Yeoh (Tomorrow Never Dies) and Vivian Wu (The Pillow Book). Returning home after studying in America, the sisters arrive to find their country in constitutional upheaval. As the sisters each find husbands - one a wealthy industrialist, one a communist revolutionary, one a fiercely patriotic soldier - they find that their relationships are strained to breaking point as vastly differing political viewpoints and deeply-ingrained prejudices begin to surface. In many ways, the story of The Soong Sisters acts as a microcosm of the Chinese nation itself - torn between embracing the past and looking to the future, between the stifling confines of communism and the intimidating reality of democratic reform.

A critical and commercial domestic hit when it was first released in 1997, The Soong Sisters won six Hong Kong Academy Awards and three Taiwanese Academy Awards - including, on both occasions, the music. With the film never having been subsequently released either in the UK or in the USA, it is not surprising that the score has slipped through the collector's net as a result. At one time, it formed part of a double-CD along with Kitaro's latest solo album; more recently, it has surfaced alone as a single-entity soundtrack in its own right, and it is this latter recording that is being reviewed here.

While it is easy to understand the score's comparative lack of publicity, I find it remarkable that the majority of the world's film directors are still oblivious to Kitaro's musical skill. Despite having just two Western scores to his name, written five years apart, it is plainly obvious that Kitaro is a composer with a great deal of talent. He has an innate knack of writing themes which are both dramatically potent, emotionally complex, and satisfyingly tonal, and with the continued collaboration of conductor/orchestrator Randy Miller (Hellraiser III), is capable of presenting a resolutely western score that still features the beautiful flavours of the east. Like Heaven & Earth before it, The Soong Sisters is just such a score, and one of the highlights of the year to date.

Many composers, from Rachel Portman to Elliot Goldenthal and George Fenton, have tried to write Hollywood scores with an Asian inflection, and have done so with generally positive results. The Joy Luck Club, Golden Gate and Anna and the King are all favourites of mine among each artist's discography. But, for some reason, their sound is never as authentic as it is when an Asian composer writes in a Western style - it's as though the Orientals are better at mimicking the sound of Hollywood than westerners are at mimicking the sound of traditional China. Joe Hisaishi, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Zhao Jiping, and especially Kitaro, all seem to have mastered both styles perfectly.

The score begins somewhat oddly, with sampled "sounds of nature" darting playfully amongst low bells and an electronic choir, before emerging into the first performance of the gorgeous main theme on a solo piano. The piano eventually gives way to a bed of violins, and the tone is set for the rest of the score - the magnificent lushness of the string section, and the power and drive of brass and percussion, and the graceful delicacy of the woodwinds, accompanied by the exotic charm of various Oriental soloists - pi-pa, yang-chin and the familiar erhu.

But whereas Heaven & Earth was a score bookended by massive themes, The Soong Sisters is a generally more quiet and low-key effort, identifiable for its textures and solo instrumental performances than its big booming anthems. 'Dr Sun and Ching-ling' is notable for its romantic flute lines, accentuating the blossoming romance between the eldest sister and the gentle revolutionary. In an unusual touch, 'The Bonfire' is totally synthesized, but never seems out of place, the stark contrast of the electronic tones compared to the rest of the score instead adding a contemporary edge to the proceedings. The wholly lovely 'The Scroll Is Read' features some writing for strings, harp and erhu that is simply divine, and it's also worth mentioning the attractive, if a little unconventional 'Waltz' written by Kitaro for a ballroom scene. Strauss would have been proud.

Having said that, there are also several large-scale action elements in the score, undoubtedly conveying the more tumultuous aspects of revolution and war. 'The Soong Sisters' contains an unexpected snare drum interlude half way through; the end of 'Nowhere To Land' features a large-scale heroic theme for the brass section; and 'Man on Fire' and 'Ching-ling Assassination Attempt/Soldiers Revolt' are by far the two most dissonant and dramatic tracks, with strident clatters and eerie vocals giving way to a powerful eight-note horn fanfare in the former, and vivid percussion effects underpinning a forceful performance of the main theme in the latter. Similarly, 'Ching-ling Escapes' and 'Parachutes' are both vibrant action cues, the former concluding with a heartbreaking orchestral coda, while the five minute finale, 'Echoing Wall', acts as an effective summary of the score, as well as containing the most spectacular performance of the main theme, ushered in by cymbal clashes and performed by the entire symphony orchestra. It's one of those moments that tingles the spine.