Jasmine Women

Spanning five generations, Jasmine Women is a multiple-hankie “women’s picture.” Based on a novel by Su Tong (also the author of Raise the Red Lantern), this grand epic of the struggle of mothers and daughters has a classic Hollywood feel, but replacing the sudsy gloss with a more realistic melodramatic approach Chinese filmmakers have always had a special handle on. Think Zhang Yimou directing Imitation of Life.

Jasmine Women begins in Shanghai in the 1930s. Mo (Ziyi Zhang, House of Flying Daggers) lives alone with her mother (Joan Saving Face Chen). The two run a photo studio that Mo’s mother intends to pass on to her daughter to support the family she’ll eventually have. Except Mo has other plans: she wants to be a movie star. The lascivious Mr. Meng (Wen Warriors of Heaven and Earth Jiang,) signs her to his studio, making her dream a reality; that is, until the Japanese invade and he takes off for Hong Kong, leaving Mo pregnant and broke.

Mo and her mother are the beginning of a cycle. The women of their family will always be alone, always left to somehow fend for themselves. Sometimes it is the fault of the man, like the selfish Xia Du (Ye The Promise Liu) who leaves Mo’s granddaughter, Hua, rather than give up his pursuit of a higher education; other times, the man tries to do right, but he can’t make it work, such as when Mo’s daughter, Lily, goes mad, and her husband (Yi Seven Swords Lu) is unable to cope. The title song of the movie links all three women, its lyrical narrative not too far afield from the “gather ye rosebuds while ye may” cliché: essentially, cultivate the good now, because tomorrow may not be so bright.

Both Chen and Ziyi play multiple roles. Chen starts off as Mo’s mother and then takes over the role of Mo when the younger woman grows older. Ziyi, who won China’s Golden Rooster for her performance, plays the young version of Mo, and then the offspring Lily and Hua. Both women are excellent, making each character distinct beyond simple wardrobe and hair changes. As the matriarch, Chen is rigid, but as Mo she is more fragile, a woman who has been hurt and is trying to stand tall in a changing world. Ziyi has more drastic changes to contend with. For her, both Mo and Lily are restless women, both searching for something and finding only disappointment. One woman’s failures bring anger, the other insanity. Hua completes the cycle, eventually finding the strength to be self-sufficient that all of her relatives have been striving for, something she can hopefully pass on to her own daughter. Ziyi Zhang has never been better. She is completely assured in her portrayal of the three women, settling once and for all into her much-hyped position as the new queen of Chinese cinema. —DVD Talk.com