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Sunflower and the Secret Fan is the poignant tale of two 21st century Asian girls and their matches in the 19th century: Both couples are bound by the dictates of a patriarchal culture that challenges the natural love and devotion they feel for each other. These lady laotongs or "old sames" take an oath to make them faithful sisters forever, the outward show of an enduring, lifelong commitment to their sisterhood.

Director Wayne Wang's challenge is to intercut the centuries and women without confusing the audience, a virtue not always achieved in two hours of traversing between times. His limited success can be attributed to the striking skyline of modern Shanghai, an apt metaphor for the change in the ladies' lives, indeed for change itself.

Just as arresting as the visual images is the stringed music of Rachel Portman, which dictates emotions as strongly as any other score I have heard this year. Some might complain of manipulation; I enjoy the excess as if it were an ancient Chinese fan of innumerable design. BTW, the titular fan was used by the 19th century ladies to make messages to each other in their special language. Wang's considerable success showing devoted friends in Joy Luck Club is evidenced in the ladies here.

The bonding of protagonists is strong on the surface, but because there is so much to do in only 2 hours, we never have sustained conversation among them to verify what we intuit without much dialogue. It would be sweet to linger more with them while they show through dialogue the bond that makes them sacrifice for each other throughout their lives.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan in the end turns on love, its many forms and demands and on change, which frequently derails the best intentions of love itself. The ladies here evidence in delicate ways the tumult and reward accompanying a lifelong commitment to another human being. And that's no secret.

This is a well cast and nicely filmed but uneven movie. The 2 leads Li Bing Bing and Gianna Jun are lovely in different ways. Only Asian actresses could play the same characters as teens and in their 30s convincingly.

The story concerns two pairs of best girl friends, one set in present day and one pair set in the mid 1800s in China. The modern story is a bit less interesting than the modern one. The 1800s story has bound feet (ouch), civil war and rural poverty. The modern story is about career and love with a foreigner (an unintentionally hilarious Hugh Jackman - that song!).

The changes between the 2 stories are a bit too frequent. It isn't confusing about who is who but it just breaks up and jumbles the narrative a little too much.

The movie is a bit long and maudlin. With too many lingering sad looks. Feel like shouting Hurry Up sometimes! That is the old fashioned Chinese soap opera part of it.

Overall worth one watch.

I finished reading all the previous reviews to have a clear idea about what other people saw in this movie, and I must say that all that emphasis about the film being too different from the book doesn't show a great understanding of the cinematic technique. A movie is not a book. The visual, with long shots and close ups, the dialogue and the music, even the noises, take over all the written pages to express a single gesture, the full description of a landscape, or the design of a dress. A single close up can give us the essence of a full chapter.

This movie is sheer poetry.

Forget about the original book that helped to create this jewel of a movie, just watch this film, allow your senses to be absorbed by the two parallel stories --the contemporary and the historical-- and just absorb all that beauty offered to you in the story-line, the exquisite photography, the delicacy of sentiments expressed by these women (it is a terrible film for men's egos, because we come a very poor second compared with those women, overpowered by men's brutality and yet transcending the horrible handicaps imposed on them, like the tiding of their feet from early age, to convert them into defenseless crippled creatures, totally depending on men, and their virtual slaves for life).

The image of those bounded stomps, deformed to the point of becoming unrecognizable as human feet symbolizes too the humiliation some ultraconservative elements of society try to impose over minorities as if to say: "There, you'll go thru life bounded and suffering, freedom to be yourself will be denied to you because I want it so".

The total love among these "Sisters for life" was infinitely superior to the love these women could have had for their husbands. We see that in both cases --the historic and the contemporary-- and in both cases it lasted, strong, to the last consequences.

Contrary to other viewers, I didn't have the slightest problem in following the development of the two parallel stories, since it was done in a very natural, simple and honest way; both stories superbly intertwined to perfection till the final resolution.

¿A masterpiece? yes, I think so.

Not having seen "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" before now in 2015 was a really big mistake on my account, because this movie is nothing short of spectacular. This is really a beautiful movie, and it is a definite must watch for anyone who enjoy cinema that offers something astounding.

The movie is really nicely set up as it skips back and forth between present day China and ancient China, as we follow two sisters in the heart throughout the ages. And director Wayne Wang captured some really beautiful moments of sisterhood, love, friendship and loyalty.

"Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" has a really good cast, and I must admit that I was more than pleasantly surprised to see talented Korean actresse Ji-hyun Jun starring in this movie, and she really carried the movie so well. And right up there beside her was Bingbing Li with her equally impressive performance. Put together Jun and Li really shined on the screen with amazing chemistry.

A movie is nothing with a proper soundtrack, and the music in "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" was majestic and almost ethereal. The score for this movie was so well-composed and complimented the movie quite well.

The wardrobe, setting and scenery for "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" was quite good, and there was a lot of nice details to be found in just about every scene.

This is a very emotional story that was quite nicely put on the screen by director Wayne Wang, and the movie does spur an interest to read Lisa See's novel to fully get every detail to this story that spans the ages.

"Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" is a beautiful movie that is well-worth watching and should be watched by anyone who enjoy the finer moments in cinema.

Snow Flower parallels two friendships, but not very well. The older story of two girls that both had bound feet and by lautong is rich - but the film has trouble translating it into the modern day story.