

Director: Hou Yong
Cast: Zhang Ziyi, Joan Chen, Jiang Wen, Lu Yi, Liu Ye

The film was made 3 years ago, but it only got distributed this year.
It earned Zhang Ziyi the Best Actress in Golden Rooster Awards (in China) in 2004.

The Japanese website
see
http://www.jasminewomen.jp/

Synopsis
Based on a book by Su Tong (Women's Life), the film is divided into three Chapters - The Grandmother (called Mo), The Mother (called Li), The Daughter (called Hua). Together, these three characters formed the Chinese words to mean "Jasmine" (see the first row of posters). Zhang Ziyi portrayed as all three of them.

My thoughts

- The entire cast is good, incl. the male cast. They are all rather renowned in China. 

While some people thought Zhang Ziyi had a very good performance, some people felt that the characters were not distinct enough ... Likewise, some thought Joan Chen stole the limelight, while some felt the two characters did not really differ much (one of which was supposed to be the OLD Zhang Ziyi) ... Watch and decide for yourself ... hiaks hiaks

- As for the story, because it was based on a book. I had to say it was simple but good. Noteworthy, each story (from the grandmother to the daughter) kind of "repeated" itself intentionally to suggest how cyclical life is ... and how sometimes, one might try to change everything but is unsuccessful ... or how sometimes, one is very confident that life will be different for them, but alas, history repeats itself ...

(PS: the director did change the third story slightly to make it less repetitive ... and maybe more optimistic ...)

Forgive me, but I would have preferred a more pessimistic ending ... because that maintained the "essence" of the plot or message ...

- yup, you are going to hear the familiar song "Mo Li Hua"
http://www.jasminewomen.jp/

Conclusion
Recommended.