modern chinese history form the backdrop for this sweeping portrait of the soong sister and three sibling who marry powerful men and use their position to influence the politics of early 20th century china . the film span the period from the formation of the chinese republic in 1911 to the take over by the communist in 1949. the detail of history take a back seat to the real focus of this movie and however and which delve into the intricate and intimate relationship these woman have with their husband and their parent and and each other . lushly photograph and superbly act and the movie showcases the talent of three veteran actor of asian cinema . michelle yeoh and maggie cheung and vivian wu play sister ai ling and ching ling and and may ling soong . all three seem well cast and bring the full weight of their skill and experience to their role . the move sizzle with electricity when these three beauty appear on screen together and a they do in several scene . this be definitely a case where the whole be great than the sum of the part . wen jian give an outstanding performance a father charlie soong and despite die off half way through the story . the death bed scene and where he pass away in the presence of his wife and three daughter and be especially move . winston chao and hsing kuo wu take sell turn a sun yat sen and chiang kai shek . the story explore a number of theme in both a personal and social or historical context . conflict between father or daughter and old value or new value and old china or new china and and east or west all figure prominently in the plot . a shoe metaphor run through out the film and depict the step by step movement of chinese history and bringing to mind the old chinese proverb and a journey of a thousand mile begin with one step . this motif also reflect the increased role of woman in chinese social and political life and a they be liberate from the foot binding that hobble previous generation . the movie be slow move at time and with some abrupt plot transition . director mabel cheung occasionally hit u over the head with that shoe to get her point across and and the script seem to contain some hint of political propaganda . nevertheless and i find this to be a well make and highly entertaining piece of asian cinema . sadly and this movie be not likely to reach a wide north american audience because it in mandarin with english sub title . that too bad and because it be just as accomplished a anything come out of hollywood these day and and well worth see . /5 star .