Forumrxes Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Aiden Melton The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

paulclaassen There really never is a happy moment in the film. It is sad and dramatic (maybe over-dramatic at times, especially in modern day). Slow moving with mediocre acting and dialogue in present day. I wanted to see this because Hugh Jackman stars in it, but he only appears for a few minutes...

phd_travel This is a well cast and nicely filmed but uneven movie. The 2 leads Li Bing Bing and Gianna Jun are lovely in different ways. Only Asian actresses could play the same characters as teens and in their 30s convincingly.The story concerns two pairs of best girl friends, one set in present day and one pair set in the mid 1800s in China. The modern story is a bit less interesting than the modern one. The 1800s story has bound feet (ouch), civil war and rural poverty. The modern story is about career and love with a foreigner (an unintentionally hilarious Hugh Jackman - that song!).The changes between the 2 stories are a bit too frequent. It isn't confusing about who is who but it just breaks up and jumbles the narrative a little too much.The movie is a bit long and maudlin. With too many lingering sad looks. Feel like shouting Hurry Up sometimes! That is the old fashioned Chinese soap opera part of it.Overall worth one watch.

dddanse Watched this movie on home CD. Would loved to have seen it on the big screen.This was a beautiful movie, but since most was spoken Chinese and for some odd reason the copy we watched from home had no sub-titles during the majority of the spoken word, which was Chinese, we had to guess at what was going on.The movie is clear enough to figure things out and some English is spoken, but I would loved to have known what was being said during the Chinese spoken portions.Overall, a lovely story of how close friendships are important. It also showed how people will find a way to connect, even when forbidden to do so.I was also interesting to see how Chinese culture represses women.

jdesando Sunflower and the Secret Fan is the poignant tale of two 21st century Asian girls and their matches in the 19th century: Both couples are bound by the dictates of a patriarchal culture that challenges the natural love and devotion they feel for each other. These lady laotongs or "old sames" take an oath to make them faithful sisters forever, the outward show of an enduring, lifelong commitment to their sisterhood.Director Wayne Wang's challenge is to intercut the centuries and women without confusing the audience, a virtue not always achieved in two hours of traversing between times. His limited success can be attributed to the striking skyline of modern Shanghai, an apt metaphor for the change in the ladies' lives, indeed for change itself.Just as arresting as the visual images is the stringed music of Rachel Portman, which dictates emotions as strongly as any other score I have heard this year. Some might complain of manipulation; I enjoy the excess as if it were an ancient Chinese fan of innumerable design. BTW, the titular fan was used by the 19th century ladies to make messages to each other in their special language. Wang's considerable success showing devoted friends in Joy Luck Club is evidenced in the ladies here.The bonding of protagonists is strong on the surface, but because there is so much to do in only 2 hours, we never have sustained conversation among them to verify what we intuit without much dialogue. It would be sweet to linger more with them while they show through dialogue the bond that makes them sacrifice for each other throughout their lives.Snow Flower and the Secret Fan in the end turns on love, its many forms and demands and on change, which frequently derails the best intentions of love itself. The ladies here evidence in delicate ways the tumult and reward accompanying a lifelong commitment to another human being. And that's no secret.