The Soong Sisters

The Soong Sisters
Directed by	Mabel Cheung
Produced by	Raymond Chow, See-Yuen Ng
Written by	Alex Law
Starring	Maggie Cheung, Michelle Yeoh and Vivian Wu
Music by	Kitarō, Randy Miller
Cinematography	Arthur Wong
Editing by	Mei Feng
Distributed by	Golden Harvest Fuji Television Network Pony Canyon Mei Ah Entertainment A More Team International Ltd Production
Release date(s)	Hong Kong: May 21, 1997 China: May 21, 1997 Singapore:May 21, 1997 Canada: September 9, 1997 Japan: November 28, 1998 Philippines: November 10, 1999
Running time	140 min (uncut) 128 (cut)
Country	Hong Kong
Language	Mandarin

The Soong Sisters (Chinese: 宋家皇朝) is a 1997 Hong Kong film dramatization of the lives of the Soong sisters from 1911 to 1949. The sisters married the most important historical figures during the founding of new China, making the family the focal point of every important major decision made in modern Chinese history. The movie was written by Alex Law and directed by Mabel Cheung. It starred Maggie Cheung, Michelle Yeoh and Vivian Wu as the sisters.

Plot

The story begins with the childhood of the three sisters who grew up during the fall of China's last dynasty around the time of the Xinhai Revolution. Their father Charlie Soong (Jiang Wen) demonstrated the wealth and prestige of the family with one of the most successful printing business. The Soong sisters later went abroad to college at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia, United States. Early on, Sun Yat-sen (Winston Chao) was a wanted criminal under the weakening Qing government. Soong Ching-ling (Maggie Cheung) first married Sun Yat-sen, the upcoming father of new China and leader of the Kuomintang Nationalist party. The marriage went ahead despite the girls' father Charlie Soong strongly opposed the idea. Sun Yat-sen did not long survive, and left Ching-ling with his dying wish of Chinese reunification. Sun's main military commander Chiang Kai-shek became the new KMT leader and political powerhouse. He married Soong May-ling (Vivian Wu); both opposed the Communist Party of China. The widowed Ching-ling often fought with the family, saying that the KMT killed CPC members, making it impossible for China to reunite. The Imperial Japanese army advanced into China in the midst of the Chinese civil war to take advantage of the situation. Soong Ai-ling (Michelle Yeoh) married H. H. Kung who was mentioned in the film, but was mostly used as a financial advisor. She demonstrated her wealth when she paid everyone in the town who owned automobiles to create a man-made runway to land an airplane in a storm.

The film reveals the turmoil, troubles and division China was experiencing through the life of the three daughters. Most notably, the film showed the major role the sisters played in shaping and ultimately changing the course of history with their husbands. A lot of questions were raised such as "What if Sun Yat-sen had not died at such a critical time". Other questions include "What if the KMT had dealt with the Japanese instead of the Communist Party first".

The film ended with actual footage of the Nationalist party retreating the Republic to Taiwan and a quick glimpse of Mao Zedong starting the new Communist era in the mainland as People's Republic of China in 1949.

Production note

While the focus is on the politics and political figures of republican China, the movie itself is heavily influenced by the politics of its production time. Most notably it was released in 1997, which coincided with the handover of Hong Kong back to the People's Republic of China. The desire to start relations on favorable grounds may have created some biased screenwriting for the movie, though the perspective will vary depending on the audience. Lines such as "Before we were slaves of Old China. Now we are slaves of slaves of Old China" may also have multiple meanings. The attitude of the movie seems to suggest that regardless of past differences due to conflict in the politics they espoused, there were strong ties that prevailed because of familial love.

Another feature of note is the characterization of the historical figures. Sun Yat-sen, Soong Ching-ling and Zhang Xueliang are portrayed as noble individuals while Chiang Kai-shek and Soong May-ling are portrayed less favorably. A reason for this may be because filming occurred on mainland China in Beijing, as China has rules regarding the portrayal of national enemies such as Chiang Kai-shek. In fact, director Mabel Cheung has stated that 14 minutes of the film were cut, which included scenes of tenderness between Chiang Kai-shek and Soong May-ling.

The movie presents one interpretation of the Xi'an Incident as the actual event was never documented. Other pivotal moments include the founding of the Republic of China in 1911, the Northern Expedition in 1927 and the Japanese invasion of China during the Mukden Incident in 1931.

The film was not released in cinemas in United States and United Kingdom.

Perspective

The film has been characterized as having a feminist stance. Aside from the three sisters, there were also their three brothers who were prominent within the Republic of China. None of these three were mentioned in the movie, written out entirely. Scenes of bloodshed were toned down to appeal to a mass audience for educational purposes, and the film avoided describing the violence associated with the era.

Interesting note is that Mao Zedong and his generals like Zhu De and Zhou Enlai never made an appearance in the movie, even though they had a major role in the Xi'an Incident part. Instead the Communists are portrayed as a whole entity without any personification. On most accounts, the people in support of the Communist party were shown as victims at the mercy of the Nationalists.

Cast

• Maggie Cheung as Soong Ching-ling
• Michelle Yeoh as Soong Ai-ling
• Vivian Wu as Soong May-ling
• Winston Chao as Sun Yat-Sen
• Hsing-kuo Wu as Chiang Kai-Shek
• Zhenhua Niu as H. H. Kung
• Elaine Jin as Ni Kwei-tseng/Madam Soong
• Wen Jiang as Charlie Soong

History inaccuracy

• An historical inaccuracy was during the part when the sisters are handing out military equipment to the Nationalist Revolutionary Army during a military morale boost parade, some of the helmets appear to be American M1 helmet, even though the movie was set before Second Sino-Japanese war outbreak that was in 1937. The M1 helmet wasn't issued to the US Army until 1941. The standard helmet the Chinese wore since 1935 was the German made M35 Stahlhelm.
• The movie claimed that Napoleon said "When China moves, it will move the world". This is a typo since the actual statement is "When China moves, she will move the world".^[1]

Awards

1997

Golden Horse Awards^[2][3]

• Won the best art direction (Eddie Ma)
• Won the best original score (Kitarō & Randy Miller)
• Won the best sound effects (Zeng Jing-xiang)

1998

Hong Kong Film Award

• Won the best actress (Maggie Cheung)
• Won the best supporting actor (Jiang Wen)
• Won the best art direction (Eddie Ma)
• Won the best cinematography (Arthur Wong)
• Won the best original score (Kitarō & Randy Miller)
• Won the best costume & make up design (Emi Wada)
• Won the best sound effects (Zeng Jing-xiang
• Nominated as best director (Mabel Cheung)
• Nominated as best supporting actress (Michelle Yeoh)
• Nominated as best supporting actress (Elaine Jin)
• Nominated as best sceenplay (Alex Law)
• Nominated as best picture (Ng See-Yuen)

References

External links

• The Soong Sisters at the Internet Movie Database
• The Soong Sisters at Allmovie

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