(aka "Song jia huang chao" - literal translation "Soong Family Dynasty")
directed by Mabel Cheung
Hong Kong 1997
By the end of Qing Dynasty, the Soong Sisters -
Ai-ling, Ching-ling, and May-ling - became legends in their own time. One loved
money, one loved power, and one loved her country. Their lives were interwoven
into the turbulent history of modern China. Ching-ling married to Dr. Sun, who
led to the 1911 Revolution and she embarked on a long journey of vagrant life……
A co-production with/With location shooting in mainland China, this is also the
first time a Hong Kong film directly tackles an important page of modern Chinese
history in an epic scale. It met serious censorship problems with the Chinese
authorities and, as a result, the release (in both Hong Kong and China) was
postponed for over a year, after heavy cuts by the Mainland Chinese authorities.
"The Soong Sisters" is a very good looking film. It's a massive film that must
of had a nice budget to work with. It brings to mind the large scale American
films of the 50's and 60's. It's the sort of film that isn't made much anymore.
Director Cheung, of "An Autumn's Tale" fame, makes sure every shot is visually
interesting.
Maggie Chueng stands out for most of most of the film. Her performance is
moving. Yeoh comes across as sour in a restrained role. The problem is she
didn't have much to work with. Her role is small and she never has a chance to
show how well she can act. Wu, who has yet to impress me, is the impulsive
youngest sister. She does a passable job.
The three Soong sisters marry and become part of
China's most elite families: Ai-ling (Michelle Khan), who married the richest
man in China; Ching-ling (Maggie Cheung), who married Sun Yat-sen; and May-ling
(Vivian Wu), who married Chiang Kai-shek. Censored by the Chinese government
during and after production, and banned until recently.
The only weak links here is the script. It's come under fire for it's historical
inaccuracies. It's to be expected with an period piece. Character development
could have been a little tighter.
Overall, great cinematography, an interesting story and an outstanding
soundtrack by Kitaro. Good to great performances by Maggie, Michelle, and Vivian
Wu.
Theatrical Release: 21 May 1997 - Singapore
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
DVD Review: Mei Ah (re-mastered - uncut) - Region 0 - NTSC
| DVD Box Cover |
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| Distribution | Mei Ah - Region 0 - NTSC | |
| Runtime | 2:24:30 | |
| Video |
2.35:1
Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.45 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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| Audio | Mandarin (Dolby Digital 5.1 Dolby) | |
| Subtitles | English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, None | |
| Features |
Release Information:
Edition Details: |
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| Comments: |
Aside
from the "ghosting" in motion sequences, I think this is a strong
anamorphic image and 5.1 sound. Skin tones seem fairly good.
Subtitles are clear and I didn't notice an inordinate amount of spelling
or grammar errors. there are no Extras worth speaking of. So, aside from
the sloppiness of the ghosting, it is a refreshing improvement over some
of Mei Ah's DVDs of the past. This has a very film-like appearance to
it.
This DVD includes approximately 17 minutes of additional footage which was omitted from Mei Ah's original DVD of this film. |
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| DVD Box Cover |
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CLICK to order from: Thinking of buying from YesAsia? CLICK HERE and use THIS UPDATED BEAVER PAGE to source their very best...
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| Distribution | Mei Ah - Region 0 - NTSC | |
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Gary Tooze
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Thank You!
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