You’re advised to bring a hankie or two should you venture forth to see the tearjerker “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.”
Hong Kong-born Wayne Wang (“The Joy Luck Club”) directs the cross-generational chick flick from a novel by Lisa See.
He weaves together two stories, one set in China in 1829, the other in contemporary Shanghai. They deal with the relationships of two pairs of laotong — unrelated women who declare themselves “sworn sisters for life.”
The same actresses, Gianna Jun and Li Bingbing, play both pairs of females — Snow Flower and Lily in the 19th century and Sophia and Nina in modern times.
Nina is a Shanghai businesswoman who cancels her big career move to New York when she learns that her estranged “sister,” Sophia, is in a coma after her bike is hit by a taxi.
During her vigil at Sophia’s hospital bedside, Nina is flooded with memories as the film crisscrosses between the parallel friendships.
The title comes from the earlier story, when Snow Flower and Lily, isolated by their families, communicate by writing in the folds of a white silk fan — a pre-electronic form of tweeting, if you wish.
Much is made of foot-binding in 19th-century China, a practice that was thought to make women more attractive to men. “Only through pain will you find beauty,” is how one mother puts it. I’d be more blunt: “That must hurt like hell.”
Hugh Jackman appears briefly as Sophia’s Aussie boyfriend, and gets to perform a lively song-and-dance number. But for some strange reason, his name isn’t in the credits.