Background

The producer, Ng See-Yuen ("Bloodmoon" 1997), the director (Mable Cheung) as well as the screenwriter (Alex Law) are all well-known in Hong Kong's film circles. The movie won seven awards at the 17th Hong Kong Film Award (best actress: Maggie Cheung as Qingling; best supporting actor: Jiang Wen as Charlie Song; best cinematography, best art director, best costume and make-up design, best original film song) in 1997 and three awards at the Golden Horse Award 1997 in Taiwan (best art director, best original music, best sound effect). In terms of production costs, the movie reached the upper end. Not only did it figure an expensive cast, but it also used a lot of CGI (computer-generated imagery) effects and was shot in different places ranging from Shanghai, Peking and the film studios in Changchun to Japan.

The movie's aim was to draw a detailed portrait of two of the most important women in 20th-century China: Song Qingling and Song Meiling. But it was no big success at the box office. It concentrates on characters and does not give much information about places or historical dates. For an audience without thorough knowledge about Chinese modern history, the plot is somewhat confusing. Therefore, to a Western audience the movie had no great appeal as well. It was shown in Berlin at the Berlinale and at the Toronto International Film Festival, but without much success. In Hong Kong the movie received some criticism because of its "feminist approach" and an allegedly "overtly pro-mainland" stance [which seems not unfounded – see the synopsis].
With such a distinguished group of people involved, including celebrities from Hong Kong, Taiwan and the PR China, their would have been great chances to produce an epochal historical drama, but too many interests were (or had to be) considered. On the one hand, the movie tried to pose as an artistic movie, on the other it tried to appeal to a broad audience in the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan at the same time. Therefore it ended up achieving neither of both. Whereas Mable Cheung tried to stay clear of ideological stereotypes, the movie often found itself trapped in common Hong Kong entertainment style, making it hard for the audience to take the movie seriously in terms of historical value. Nevertheless, the movie did run into censorship troubles with PRC authorities and had to be cut.[1]

The movie "The Soong Sisters" has been produced by the cooperation of a lot of stars in Chinese movie industry:

Mabel Cheung, the Hong Kong director of the movie, has produced various movies, often together with her companion in life and screenwriter, Alex Law, who also in this case wrote the screenplay. One of their most well-known movies was "Now You See Love, Now You Don’t" 1992, and – after the hand-over – "City of Glass" 1998.

Michelle Yeoh, acting as Song Ailing, is born in Malaysia and educated in the UK. She has achieved her greatest fame with "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" 2000 and by participating in a James Bond film. Lately, her acting in "Memoirs of a Geisha" – though in a minor role – has made her controversial with a nationalist Chinese audience.

Maggie Cheung, acting as Song Qingling, is one of the most famous Hong Kong actresses, starring in a host of movies. One of her internationally most successful roles was in "Hero" 2002.

Vivian Wu, acting as Song Meiling, is from the PRC. She participated already in Bertolucci's "The Last Emperor" 1987 and since then appeared time and again also in Western movies.

Jiang Wen, acting as Charlie Song, is from the PRC as well. He has written and produced (and acted in) the controversial movie “Devils on the Doorstep” in 2000 which was censored for being too anti-Japanese.

Winston Chao, acting as Sun Yat-sen, is from Taiwan. Well-known movies he acted in are "Eat Drink Man Woman" 1994 and "The Wedding Banquet" 1993.

Wu Xingguo, acting as Chiang Kai-shek, has acted in earlier Hong Kong films like "God of Gamblers 2" 1994, and more recently in "The Accidental Spy" 2001.[2]