- English name：Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
- Broadcast time：June 24, 2011
- Starring：李冰冰（Li Bingbing）、全智贤（Gianna Jun）、邬君梅（Vivian Wu）、休·杰克曼（Hugh Jackman）、高圣远（Archie David Kao）
- director：王颖（Wayne Wang）
Introduction
“Snow Flower and the Secret Fan” is a drama and historical film produced and distributed by Fox Searchlight, Huayi Brothers Media Group and Shanghai Film (Group) Co., Ltd. It is directed by Wang Ying, written by Angela Workman, Ronald Bass and Michael Ray, and co-starred by Li Bingbing, Jeon Ji-hyun, Vivian Wu and Hugh Jackman. The film was released in China on June 24, 2011.
The film is adapted from the novel “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan” by Chinese-American writer Lisa Kwong, telling the poignant and tactful love story between two women in the late Qing Dynasty and modern times.
In 2011, the film won the Golden Angel Film Award at the 7th China-US Film Festival; in 2012, the film won the 21st Shanghai Film Critics Association Award for the Top Ten Films.
“Snow Flower and the Secret Fan” is a drama and historical film produced and distributed by Fox Searchlight, Huayi Brothers Media Group and Shanghai Film (Group) Co., Ltd. It is directed by Wang Ying, written by Angela Workman, Ronald Bass and Michael Ray, and co-starred by Li Bingbing, Jeon Ji-hyun, Vivian Wu and Hugh Jackman. The film was released in China on June 24, 2011.
The film is adapted from the novel “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan” by Chinese-American writer Lisa Kwong, telling the poignant and tactful love story between two women in the late Qing Dynasty and modern times.
In 2011, the film won the Golden Angel Film Award at the 7th China-US Film Festival; in 2012, the film won the 21st Shanghai Film Critics Association Award for the Top Ten Films.
Today let’s take a brief introduction of a famous Chinese movie named “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan”Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, inspired by the namesake novel written by Chinese American writer Lisa See, tells the story of women in a remote area of Hunan Province in the 19th century creating their unique language of communication – Nvshu (literally, women’s script). In the film, Lily and Snow Flower, played by Li Bingbing and Gianna Jun respectively, are a laotong pair (or sworn sisters). They communicate with each other by writing Nvshu script, swearing to keep company and never betray each other.
The Nvshu script in Jiangyong of Hunan Province has entered the public eye through the film Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Because of the application of traditional Chinese folklore elements like “Nvshu script” and “laotong”, the film is labeled as “epic film of folklore” by the producer. Nvshu script was a special communication code developed by women in the remote area of Hunan Province. Some girls developed special relationship with their same-sex confidants; they lived like a spiritual couple, and their friendship could last lifelong. These women wrote Nvshu script on fans or handkerchiefs, writing songs or stories to communicate with and comfort each other. It is said that Nvshu script is the only female language in the world.
In order to write Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, the author Lisa See read through all related academic writings, had an interview with a prestigious expert on Nvshu script, conducted a field investigation to Jiangyong area of Hunan Province, and paid a visit to the eldest inheritor of Nvshu script in the local area – Yang Huanyi. In the film, director Wayner Wang specially invited Nvshu experts to sing works of Nvshu script, which enables the moviegoers to experience the beautiful aria of Nvshu script.
Plot
A poignant and tactful love story between two women in the late Qing Dynasty and the present. In the modern story, the heroines Sophie and Nina are very good friends. By chance, Sophie heard a story from her aunt. A long time ago, in a remote area of Hunan Province, Jiangyong (formerly known as Yongming), young girls of the same age wrote a mysterious text circulated among local women on fans to communicate with each other. Sophie and Nina became close friends under the organization of their aunt and vowed to be the most loyal, faithful and inseparable partners for life.
Time goes back to Jiangyong, a small county in Hunan in the mid-19th century, where two beautiful little girls, Lily and Snow Flower, live. The two became close friends in their childhood and expressed their true feelings to each other in women’s writing. As they grew older, they married and had children one after another. Lily married into a rich family, but Snow Flower married a country butcher because her family fell into poverty. Due to different circumstances, their friendship has been separated and is no longer the pure friendship of childhood, and they do not communicate with each other. The misunderstanding was finally resolved before Xuehua died. The deep friendship between the two made Lily finally realize the true feelings between them and the true meaning of women’s writing.
Key words
邝丽莎 Kuàng Lìshā：an American writer and novelist.
湖南 Húnán:a province of the People’s Republic of China, located in the south-central part of the country to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting
女书 Nǚshū:literally “women’s writing”, is a syllabic script, a simplification of Chinese characters that was used exclusively among women in Jiangyong County in Hunan province of southern China.
