About Nina and Sofia. I don’t watch Chinese cinema very often. However, this picture arose a desire to see after reading the book of the same name.
The book ' Snow Flower and the cherished fan' a fairly large-scale and voluminous work about the life and hardships of two girls, then girls and women. The film touches the book very superficially, without revealing many significant and familiar events and actions. Those moments that were shown in this picture are more distorted or carry a different semantic load. Much more attention is paid to the modern line and friendship of quite other Asian girls.
Their situation is not easy either, but that is another story altogether. Actresses quite cope with their roles, but periodic transitions to two different eras violated my holistic perception of the film.
This film should not be considered as a film adaptation of the book from the word '. In my opinion, directors and screenwriters should focus on historical and cultural value and show the difficult history of girls of the past. Their happiness and last steps with normal feet down the stream, the hardships of life and hunger, sometimes destructive customs, difficult and not quite understandable relations for the Russian view between children and parents, the important role of matchmakers in the life of a Chinese girl, etc.
As a result: a vital but weak movie. I hope that the first attempt of the film adaptation will one day be followed by a second. . .