Directed by
Mabel Cheung.
"Once upon a time in distant China, there were three sisters. One loved money, one loved power, and one loved her country." So opens this historical, melodramatic chronicle of the influential lives of three daughters from one of pre-Communist China's wealthiest families. Two of the Soong sisters married important figures in 20th-century Chinese history. Soong Ching-ling married Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the Chinese Republic while her sister May-ling married Sun's successor, the famed Chian Kai-shek. The oldest daughter Ai-ling married industrialist H.H. Kung, a wealthy and powerful man who eventually became Hong Kong's finance minister. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Review by All Movie Guide
All Movie Guide
is neutral about it.
One should not mistake The Soong Sisters for a documentary -- neither is it historically accurate, nor will it make much sense to viewers who aren't already familiar with the period in China's history in which this film is set. Even audiences who do know their stuff when it comes to the revolution of 1911 and its consequences may need a scorecard in order to follow the shifts of alliance, as the events are observed primarily through the eyes of the three sisters of the title: Ai-ling (
Michelle Yeoh, here billed as
Michelle Khan), Ching-ling (
Maggie Cheung), and May-ling (
Vivian Wu). The three leading ladies are the main reason to see this film; all three positively glow onscreen, even Yeoh, who doesn't have as much to do as her co-stars. As the wives of Sun Yat-sen (Winston Chao) and Chiang Kai-shek (Hsing-Kuo Wu), respectively, Cheung and Wu are much more involved in the drama, and their relationship is alternately strengthened and strained by the ties between their powerful and influential husbands. Ultimately, it's the iconic imagery -- in which this film abounds -- which resonates, rather than the story itself; the uneven pacing and the characterization of the sisters as archetypes, rather than individuals, weaken the film as a whole. That's unfortunate, especially given the trouble the filmmakers went through to get this movie made; it may, however, encourage some viewers to read up on their Chinese history. The principal cast is uniformly good, including Wen Jiang as the Soong sisters' father. ~ Genevieve Williams, All Movie Guide