The Soong Sisters (film)
Encyclopedia
The Soong Sisters is a 1997
1997 in film
-Events:* The original Star Wars trilogy's Special Editions are released.* Production begins on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.* Titanic becomes the first film to gross US$1,000,000,000 at the box office making it the highest grossing film in history until Avatar broke the record in 2010.*...

 Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

 film dramatization of the lives of the Soong sisters
Soong sisters
The Soong Sisters were three Hakka Chinese women who were, along with their husbands, amongst China's most significant political figures of the early 20th century...

 from 1911 to 1949. The three 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
Alex Law
Alex Law is a Hong Kong film director writer and producer. He is variously credited as "Law Kai Yui", "Law Kai-Yui" and "Alex Kai Yui".Law was educated at the Diocesan Boys' School, Hong Kong, matriculating in 1971...

 and directed by Mabel Cheung
Mabel Cheung
Mabel Cheung is one of the leading film directors in Hong Kong. She was elected "Freshman's Queen" when she was studying undergrad at the University of Hong Kong, and was an avid sportswoman representing Lady Ho Tung Hall and HKU...

. It starred Maggie Cheung
Maggie Cheung
Maggie Cheung Man yuk is a Chinese actress from Hong Kong. Raised in England and Hong Kong, she has over 70 films to her credit since starting her career in 1983...

, Michelle Yeoh
Michelle Yeoh
Michelle Yeoh Choo-Kheng is a Hong Kong-based Malaysian Chinese actress, well known for performing her own stunts in the action films that brought her to fame in the early 1990s....

 and Vivian Wu
Vivian Wu
Vivian Wu , is a Chinese actress, known for her roles in The Last Emperor , Heaven & Earth , The Joy Luck Club , and The Pillow Book and as the historical figure of Soong May-ling, commonly referred to as Madam Chiang Kai-shek, in two major Chinese motion pictures The Soong Sisters and The...

 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
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

 around the time of the Xinhai Revolution
Xinhai Revolution
The Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, also known as Revolution of 1911 or the Chinese Revolution, was a revolution that overthrew China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing , and established the Republic of China...

. Their father Charlie Soong
Charlie Soong
Charles Jones Soong , courtesy name Yaoru was a Chinese businessman who first achieved prominence as a missionary in Shanghai. He was a close friend of Sun Yat-Sen and a key player in the events that led to the Xinhai Revolution in 1911...

 (Jiang Wen
Jiang Wen
Jiang Wen is a Chinese film actor and director. As a director, he is sometimes grouped with the "sixth generation" that emerged in the 1990s. Jiang is also well known internationally as an actor, having starred with Gong Li in Zhang Yimou's debut film Red Sorghum...

) 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
Wesleyan College
Wesleyan College is a private, liberal arts women's college located in Macon, Georgia, United States.-History:The school was chartered on December 23, 1836 as the Georgia Female College, and opened its doors to students on January 7, 1839. The school was renamed Wesleyan Female College in 1843...

 in Macon, Georgia in the United States. Early on, Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen was a Chinese doctor, revolutionary and political leader. As the foremost pioneer of Nationalist China, Sun is frequently referred to as the "Father of the Nation" , a view agreed upon by both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China...

 (Winston Chao
Winston Chao
Winston Chao Wen-Hsuan is a Taiwanese actor. He came to international attention for his performance in the 1993 film The Wedding Banquet...

) was a wanted criminal under the weakening Qing government. Soong Ching-ling
Soong Ching-ling
Soong Ching-ling , also known as Madame Sun Yat-sen, was one of the three Soong sisters—who, along with their husbands, were amongst China's most significant political figures of the early 20th century. She was the Vice Chairman of the People's Republic of China...

 (Maggie Cheung
Maggie Cheung
Maggie Cheung Man yuk is a Chinese actress from Hong Kong. Raised in England and Hong Kong, she has over 70 films to her credit since starting her career in 1983...

) first married Sun Yat-sen, the upcoming father of new China and leader of the Kuomintang Nationalist party
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...

. 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
Chinese reunification
Chinese reunification refers to the bringing together of all of the territories controlled by the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China under a single political entity...

. Sun's main military commander Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....

 became the new KMT leader and political powerhouse. He married Soong May-ling
Soong May-ling
Soong May-ling or Soong Mei-ling, also known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek or Madame Chiang was a First Lady of the Republic of China , the wife of Generalissimo and President Chiang Kai-shek. She was a politician and painter...

 (Vivian Wu
Vivian Wu
Vivian Wu , is a Chinese actress, known for her roles in The Last Emperor , Heaven & Earth , The Joy Luck Club , and The Pillow Book and as the historical figure of Soong May-ling, commonly referred to as Madam Chiang Kai-shek, in two major Chinese motion pictures The Soong Sisters and The...

); both opposed the Communist Party of China
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic 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
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...

 advanced into China in the midst of the Chinese civil war
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...

 to take advantage of the situation. Soong Ai-ling
Soong Ai-ling
Soong Ai-ling , or Eling Soong , eldest of the Soong sisters, was the wife of H. H. Kung , who was the richest man in the early 20th century Republic of China. The first character of her given name is written as 靄 in some texts...

 (Michelle Yeoh
Michelle Yeoh
Michelle Yeoh Choo-Kheng is a Hong Kong-based Malaysian Chinese actress, well known for performing her own stunts in the action films that brought her to fame in the early 1990s....

) married H. H. Kung
H. H. Kung
K'ung Hsiang-hsi , often known as Dr. H. H. Kung, was a wealthy Chinese banker and politician in the early 20th century. He was highly influential in determining the economic policies of the KMT government in the 1930s and 1940s...

 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
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...

 to Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

 and a quick glimpse of Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...

 starting the new Communist era in the mainland as People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

 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
Transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong
The transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China, referred to as ‘the Return’ or ‘the Reunification’ by the Chinese and ‘the Handover’ by others, took place on 1 July 1997...

 back to the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

. 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
Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen was a Chinese doctor, revolutionary and political leader. As the foremost pioneer of Nationalist China, Sun is frequently referred to as the "Father of the Nation" , a view agreed upon by both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China...

, Soong Ching-ling
Soong Ching-ling
Soong Ching-ling , also known as Madame Sun Yat-sen, was one of the three Soong sisters—who, along with their husbands, were amongst China's most significant political figures of the early 20th century. She was the Vice Chairman of the People's Republic of China...

 and Zhang Xueliang
Zhang Xueliang
Zhang Xueliang or Chang Hsüeh-liang , occasionally called Peter Hsueh Liang Chang in English, nicknamed the Young Marshal , was the effective ruler of Manchuria and much of North China after the assassination of his father, Zhang Zuolin, by the Japanese on 4 June 1928...

 are portrayed as noble individuals while Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....

 and Soong May-ling are portrayed less favorably. A reason for this may be because filming occurred on mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...

 in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

, as China has rules regarding the portrayal of national enemies such as Chiang Kai-shek. In fact, director Mabel Cheung
Mabel Cheung
Mabel Cheung is one of the leading film directors in Hong Kong. She was elected "Freshman's Queen" when she was studying undergrad at the University of Hong Kong, and was an avid sportswoman representing Lady Ho Tung Hall and HKU...

 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
Xi'an Incident
The Xi'an Incident of December 1936 is an important episode of Chinese modern history, taking place in the city of Xi'an during the Chinese Civil War between the ruling Kuomintang and the rebel Chinese Communist Party and just before the Second Sino-Japanese War...

 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
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...

 during the Mukden Incident
Mukden Incident
The Mukden Incident, also known as the Manchurian Incident, was a staged event that was engineered by Japanese military personnel as a pretext for invading the northern part of China known as Manchuria in 1931....

 in 1931.

The film was not released in cinemas in United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.

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.

Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...

 and his generals like Zhu De
Zhu De
Zhu De was a Chinese militarist, politician, revolutionary, and one of the pioneers of the Chinese Communist Party. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, in 1955 Zhu became one of the Ten Marshals of the People's Liberation Army, of which he is regarded as the founder.-Early...

 and Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai was the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, serving from October 1949 until his death in January 1976...

 never made an appearance in the movie, even though they had a major role in the Xi'an Incident
Xi'an Incident
The Xi'an Incident of December 1936 is an important episode of Chinese modern history, taking place in the city of Xi'an during the Chinese Civil War between the ruling Kuomintang and the rebel Chinese Communist Party and just before the Second Sino-Japanese War...

 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
    Maggie Cheung
    Maggie Cheung Man yuk is a Chinese actress from Hong Kong. Raised in England and Hong Kong, she has over 70 films to her credit since starting her career in 1983...

     as Soong Ching-ling
    Soong Ching-ling
    Soong Ching-ling , also known as Madame Sun Yat-sen, was one of the three Soong sisters—who, along with their husbands, were amongst China's most significant political figures of the early 20th century. She was the Vice Chairman of the People's Republic of China...

  • Michelle Yeoh
    Michelle Yeoh
    Michelle Yeoh Choo-Kheng is a Hong Kong-based Malaysian Chinese actress, well known for performing her own stunts in the action films that brought her to fame in the early 1990s....

     as Soong Ai-ling
    Soong Ai-ling
    Soong Ai-ling , or Eling Soong , eldest of the Soong sisters, was the wife of H. H. Kung , who was the richest man in the early 20th century Republic of China. The first character of her given name is written as 靄 in some texts...

  • Vivian Wu
    Vivian Wu
    Vivian Wu , is a Chinese actress, known for her roles in The Last Emperor , Heaven & Earth , The Joy Luck Club , and The Pillow Book and as the historical figure of Soong May-ling, commonly referred to as Madam Chiang Kai-shek, in two major Chinese motion pictures The Soong Sisters and The...

     as Soong May-ling
    Soong May-ling
    Soong May-ling or Soong Mei-ling, also known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek or Madame Chiang was a First Lady of the Republic of China , the wife of Generalissimo and President Chiang Kai-shek. She was a politician and painter...

  • Winston Chao
    Winston Chao
    Winston Chao Wen-Hsuan is a Taiwanese actor. He came to international attention for his performance in the 1993 film The Wedding Banquet...

     as Sun Yat-Sen
    Sun Yat-sen
    Sun Yat-sen was a Chinese doctor, revolutionary and political leader. As the foremost pioneer of Nationalist China, Sun is frequently referred to as the "Father of the Nation" , a view agreed upon by both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China...

  • Wu Hsing-kuo
    Wu Hsing-kuo
    Wu Hsing-kuo is a Taiwanese actor of the silver screen and theater, known for both his performance of complex movie roles as much as for his innovative adaptations of Western classics into traditional Peking Opera....

     as Chiang Kai-Shek
    Chiang Kai-shek
    Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....

  • Elaine Jin
    Elaine Jin
    Elaine Jin or known as Yanling Jin, Elaine Kam is a famous Taiwanese actress.She has been nominated five times in the Hong Kong Film Awards and won two for her supporting roles in Love Unto Waste and People's Hero...

     as Ni Kwei-tseng/Madam Soong
  • Jiang Wen
    Jiang Wen
    Jiang Wen is a Chinese film actor and director. As a director, he is sometimes grouped with the "sixth generation" that emerged in the 1990s. Jiang is also well known internationally as an actor, having starred with Gong Li in Zhang Yimou's debut film Red Sorghum...

     as Charlie Soong
    Charlie Soong
    Charles Jones Soong , courtesy name Yaoru was a Chinese businessman who first achieved prominence as a missionary in Shanghai. He was a close friend of Sun Yat-Sen and a key player in the events that led to the Xinhai Revolution in 1911...

  • Zhenhua Niu as H. H. Kung
    H. H. Kung
    K'ung Hsiang-hsi , often known as Dr. H. H. Kung, was a wealthy Chinese banker and politician in the early 20th century. He was highly influential in determining the economic policies of the KMT government in the 1930s and 1940s...

  • Mengyi Ji as Kung Ling-chie

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
    M1 Helmet
    The M1 helmet is a combat helmet that was used by the American military from World War II until it was succeeded by the PASGT helmet beginning in 1985. For over forty years, the M1 was standard issue for the U.S...

    , even though the movie was set before Second Sino-Japanese war
    Second Sino-Japanese War
    The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...

     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
    Stahlhelm
    Stahlhelm is German for "steel helmet". The Imperial German Army began to replace the traditional boiled-leather Pickelhaube with the Stahlhelm during World War I in 1916...

    .
  • 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".

1997

Golden Horse Awards
Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards
The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards is a film festival and awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. It was founded in 1962, by Government Information Office, Republic of China...

  • Won the best art direction (Eddie Ma)
  • Won the best original score (Kitarō
    Kitaro
    , better known as , is an award winning Japanese musician, composer and multi-instrumentalist who is regarded as one of the pioneers of new age music.-Early life:...

     & Randy Miller
    Randy Miller
    Randall J. "Randy" Miller was an American musician and drummer for the Seattle-based band, The Myriad.Miller was born in Long Beach, California in 1971 to Jack and Jayne Miller. He moved to Redding, California, in 1985 with his family. Miller graduated from Central Valley High School in Redding in...

    )
  • Won the best sound effects (Zeng Jing-xiang)

1998

Hong Kong Film Award
  • Won the best actress (Maggie Cheung
    Maggie Cheung
    Maggie Cheung Man yuk is a Chinese actress from Hong Kong. Raised in England and Hong Kong, she has over 70 films to her credit since starting her career in 1983...

    )
  • Won the best supporting actor (Jiang Wen
    Jiang Wen
    Jiang Wen is a Chinese film actor and director. As a director, he is sometimes grouped with the "sixth generation" that emerged in the 1990s. Jiang is also well known internationally as an actor, having starred with Gong Li in Zhang Yimou's debut film Red Sorghum...

    )
  • Won the best art direction (Eddie Ma)
  • Won the best cinematography (Arthur Wong
    Arthur Wong
    Arthur Wong Ngok-Tai is a nine time Hong Kong Film Awards-winning cinematographer, actor, screenwriter, film producer and film director.-Career:...

    )
  • Won the best original score (Kitarō
    Kitaro
    , better known as , is an award winning Japanese musician, composer and multi-instrumentalist who is regarded as one of the pioneers of new age music.-Early life:...

     & Randy Miller
    Randy Miller
    Randall J. "Randy" Miller was an American musician and drummer for the Seattle-based band, The Myriad.Miller was born in Long Beach, California in 1971 to Jack and Jayne Miller. He moved to Redding, California, in 1985 with his family. Miller graduated from Central Valley High School in Redding in...

    )
  • Won the best costume & make up design (Emi Wada
    Emi Wada
    is a renowned Japanese costume designer.She has created costumes for the Akira Kurosawa film Ran, which earned her an Academy Award for costume design, the Peter Greenaway film Prospero's Books, and the Zhang Yimou films Hero and House of Flying Daggers...

    )
  • Won the best sound effects (Zeng Jing-xiang
  • Nominated as best director (Mabel Cheung
    Mabel Cheung
    Mabel Cheung is one of the leading film directors in Hong Kong. She was elected "Freshman's Queen" when she was studying undergrad at the University of Hong Kong, and was an avid sportswoman representing Lady Ho Tung Hall and HKU...

    )
  • Nominated as best supporting actress (Michelle Yeoh
    Michelle Yeoh
    Michelle Yeoh Choo-Kheng is a Hong Kong-based Malaysian Chinese actress, well known for performing her own stunts in the action films that brought her to fame in the early 1990s....

    )
  • Nominated as best supporting actress (Elaine Jin
    Elaine Jin
    Elaine Jin or known as Yanling Jin, Elaine Kam is a famous Taiwanese actress.She has been nominated five times in the Hong Kong Film Awards and won two for her supporting roles in Love Unto Waste and People's Hero...

    )
  • Nominated as best sceenplay (Alex Law
    Alex Law
    Alex Law is a Hong Kong film director writer and producer. He is variously credited as "Law Kai Yui", "Law Kai-Yui" and "Alex Kai Yui".Law was educated at the Diocesan Boys' School, Hong Kong, matriculating in 1971...

    )
  • Nominated as best picture (Ng See-Yuen
    Ng See-Yuen
    Ng See-yuen, born 1944 in Shanghai is a Chinese director of independent film companies in Hong Kong. He has worked in the Hong Kong film industry since 1970, particularly in Hong Kong action cinema, with roles including film director, producer and screenwriter.Ng is the chairman of the Federation...

    )
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK