Like with all things of beauty, it’s far too easy to get swept up in the appreciation of the visual wonder without ever thinking to look deeper; this is easier to do in some art forms than others. For film, it’s all but impossible but for outstanding visuals alone to set it in the audience’s good graces. If the acting, direction, and story are bad, no amount of eye candy can rescue it. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan can testify to that, and in a way, that’s unfortunate. The film paints a beautiful picture on the screen, but if you have your ears open along with your eyes, you’re bound to be disappointed. Done right, the story of two lifelong friends keeping in touch and defying the obstacles of time, space, and culture to do so should have enough emotional heft and richly realized characters to make it a touching story of loyalty. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan wasn’t done right though. In more ways than one, Snow Flower goes disappointingly wrong.
Told in two halves, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan sets out to teach us a lesson about relationships and the importance of keeping them strong even when it seems impossible. The first story has to do with the film’s title, and it follows two friends, Snow Flower (Gianna Jun) and Lily (Bingbing Li) paired at childhood who then must contend with social expectations and restrictions. They overcome their distance by writing to one another within the folds of a fan, and through this method keep the lines of communication strong as they grow older. In the present day, the great-great-grandchildren of Snow Flower and Lily attempt to keep alive the friendship their ancestors started all those years ago, but like Snow Flower and Lily, Nina and Sophia discover that sometimes life has a tendency to get in the way.
The story aside, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan ought to be recognized as the disaster it is. The acting, writing, and direction veer off into equally horrible places that leave audiences with scattered scenes of handwringing melancholy and obnoxious melodrama. When the characters aren’t bemoaning their circumstances with comical theatricality, they go to the other end of the spectrum, becoming impossibly muted and lacking entirely of personality or character. To squander the story by shorting the film in almost every other respect makes Snow Flower one of the more visually beautiful trainwrecks out there. It’s a shame.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
The lone featurette on the disc is a relatively thorough behind-the-scenes look at the film’s creation. There’s quite a bit of material to be found in here, but it only adds to the confusion. With so many things going in the film’s favor, how did it go so horribly wrong?
"Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" is on sale November 1, 2011 and is rated PG13. Drama. Directed by Wayne Wang. Written by Angela Workman and Ronald Bass and Michael Ray (screenplay), Lisa See (novel). Starring Gianna Jun, Bingbing Li.
