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TIT

'Snow Flower and the Secret Fan'
(Bingbing Li, Gianna Jun, Vivian Wu, Russell Wong, Archie Kao, et al / DVD / PG-13 / 2011 / 20th Century Fox)

Overview: From the director of The Joy Luck Club, and based on the best-selling novel, comes a timeless portrait of female friendship. Centuries ago, two “sworn sisters” are isolated by their families, but stay connected through a secret language written in the folds of a white silk fan. Now in modern-day Shanghai, their descendents must draw inspiration from the past as they struggle to maintain their own eternal bond in the face of life’s complications.

DVD Verdict: Here is a very self-conscious attempt to bridge the US-China divide through the medium of glossy, handsomely mounted cinema. Lisa See's Chinese-American novel about a laotong relationship, "sworn sisters" in 19th-century imperial China, has been given a contemporary spin by the addition of a parallel gal-pal friendship in modern-day Shanghai, played out by the same actors.

You have to say that the period scenes are much more effective and, indeed, plausible, than the ponderous stuff set in the present which, among other things, makes the mistake of largely being conducted in uncomfortably stilted English. Li Bingbing does pretty well as the born-poor-but-ambitous Lily, who contracts with rich but doomed Snow Flower (Gianna Jun); but the message of empowerment in the face of male strictures is rather too obviously pointed up, as is the gloopy, soft-focus conclusion.

And for such a supposedly intense relationship, the lack of basic human chemistry between Li and Jun is all too noticeable. [AP] This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Features of:

The Sworn Sisterhood of the Secret Fan
Theatrical Trailer

www.FoxHome.com





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