'Snow Flower and the Secret Fan' - the journey from book to screen

Discover through this fascinating interview with Wendi Murdoch and Lisa See how the hugely popular novel 'Snow Flower and the Secret Fan' made it to the big screen. Click here to watch the trailer for the film.

When Wendi Murdoch first came across Lisa See’s 2005 novel Snow Flower and the Secret Fan – given to her at a book club meeting by her friend, author Amy Tan – it became swiftly apparent that it was a perfect work to adapt for the screen. The story of two women living in 19^th Century China, Lily and Snow Flower are bonded both as sworn sisters (laotong, as it is known) and the pain of footbinding, the traditional process of binding young girls’ feet to make them more eligible for marriage. Isolated from their families, they communicate through nu shu, a secret phonetic language – known only to women – written in between the folds of a white silk fan.

A tale of female friendship, loyalty and love, it drove Wendi and her producing partner Florence Sloan to pursue Lisa to obtain the film rights. Once they did, they brought acclaimed director Wayne Wang on board – a choice reflected in the fact that Wang had previously directed Amy Tan’s novel The Joy Luck Clubwith great success. With a script co-written by Ron Bass, Angela Workman and Michael Ray, Wang added a crucial Shanghai-set modern-day section – where descendants of Snow Flower and Lily also play out their friendship. Below, both Wendi and Lisa reflect on their experiences, in bringing both book and film into being, and together trace the inspirational journey of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.

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What inspired you to write the book?

LS: Well, I had reviewed a book for the Los Angeles Timeson the history of foot-binding and in that was a three or four page mention of the secret language, and I became totally obsessed. Some people in their free time garden, or go to movies, or knit or play golf, but in my free time, I would look on the Internet to see what I could see – at that time, almost nothing. I live very close to UCLA and I would go over there to the research library to see what I could find. And every time I found something, instead of calming down my obsession it actually fed my obsession. So one day I said to my husband, ‘There is only one thing I can do – go to China and see what I see.’ So I did travel to Jiangyong, which is the southwestern Hunan province – the only place that this language existed, in this one county. And I was told I was only the second foreigner to go there. On my count I was about the sixth, but only the second Caucasian-looking one! And I got to meet the oldest living nu shu writer. She was 96 years old and she died about three months later. So I felt I got to see things and talk to people…three months and a day later it would’ve been too late!

 

When did it become apparent that you would write a novel?

 

LS: Well, this was a hard trip, I’m not a camper! I like things like hot water and heat and sheets! But anyway, I had one night on my way back out of China in the city of Guilin, which is a lovely tourist city. I took a shower and ordered room service! But I had this voice in my head that started talking to me. It was a little bit of my grandmother, a little bit of my great Aunt and a little bit of the woman from the village. And I pulled out my laptop and wrote my first chapter. It was only four pages but that’s when I knew it was going to be a novel.

                                                                                                                                   

So you didn’t initially set out, thinking of writing a novel?

 

LS: I wasn’t really thinking of it as a book or an article, I just had this obsession over the secret language. And it’s the only writing system that has been found to be used exclusively by women. For example, there’s a writing in Japan that was used by Imperial women, but it’s now used today by many people. So this is the only one found to be used exclusively by women. They invented it, they used it and they kept it a secret for a thousand years.

 

Wendi, is it true that Amy Tan, the author of The Joy Luck Club, gave you Lisa’s book…

 

WM: Yes. At a book party, for Lisa See. They’re friends. I loved The Joy Luck Club, also. We used to live in Soho, downtown, and we were neighbours, Amy and I. And we always keep in touch – I love her books. So when she had this book party for Lisa, she invited me – and I got the book and I read it. It’s interesting, because it’s so related. Wayne Wang did The Joy Luck Club – and that’s why I thought Wayne would be amazing.

 

Is that why you asked Wayne to direct?

 

WM: At the time I didn’t think that. I just loved The Joy Luck Club, always. On this film, we wanted to find a director who not only understood Chinese sensibilities and could make a beautiful Chinese film, but was also known internationally. So that way you could show it to the international audiences. Friendships are universal, and we didn’t just want to make a film only for China. I wanted to show it outside China, so Wayne is a fantastic choice.

 

He’s stayed in touch with his roots, it seems…

 

WM: And that’s why we love him. He’s very dynamic. He made The Joy Luck Club, he made A Thousand Years of Good Prayers and also Last Holiday, that was quite different. He’s shooting in Berlin right now. I love him – he’s very professional. Also, he’s very well known in China, and then he helped us bring Ron Bass [on board as co-screenwriter], which was amazing.

 

Lisa, what did you think when Wayne came on board?

LS: Well, I do know Amy Tan quite well and he had done The Joy Luck Club, which I also thought was terrific. I thought again this would be a very good match, that he would have a certain sensitivity to the story and to the culture and traditions. I’ll just say this. In a very, very early version of the script, there was a scene where one of the women is making rice. In the description, she was standing at the stove stirring the rice. Well, you don’t stir rice when you make it! So I felt somebody like Wayne, he would just know that. I’m not sure why anyone wouldn’t know that! It was things like that that I felt, culturally, that he would get right.

                                                                       

Wendi, did the book make you think of your own journey?

 

WM: Oh, of course. Definitely. It’s funny, China might be rich right now, but when I grew up, we had no hot water. We didn’t have refrigerators. I didn’t see any cars. My first aeroplane ride was from China to the US, when I was 19. I’d never been on an aeroplane before – I bought a one-way ticket to get out! But I can definitely relate to the book. We have three girls in our family. Also my Great Auntie – my mother’s aunt – lived with us when we were young, because her mother – my grandmother – died during childbirth. Then she had small bound feet, and didn’t know how to read or write. It was just a really harsh life. Also, I have many good girlfriends. And in the book, where girls have no love from their family or their husbands, if they’re in an arranged marriage, then they have this love for each other, which is quite beautiful. And that friendship helps them to go through life’s challenges. It’s just a quite beautiful story.

 

 

 

Do you have to be tough to exist in your world?

WM: I’m very nice to everybody! I don’t know. You grow up in China, in hardship, and today you appreciate everything more. When women are successful, you don’t have to be so tough or aggressive. You can still dress fashionably, still be beautiful, still be feminine – and still get things done, in a nice way!

 

What are the attitudes of Chinese men to women becoming more successful?

 

WM: I think like in every country, some men are impressed, others are probably threatened. I think humans are more the same than different – whether it’s Chinese men or English men. The rise of women…some men feel supportive, others not.

 

Was it easy to convince Lisa to give you the rights?

 

WM: Yes, she agreed quickly! I think partially because we were so passionate about the story, the film, the book. Also, she’s Caucasian. She has one quarter Chinese blood. She has red hair, blue eyes. But the fact that I’m Chinese, my partner is Chinese…we said we really could use this for the movie. So she said ‘OK!’ Then I got a bit nervous when I talked to Wayne, because he wanted to add the modern part. The book only has the old part. It’s also only in English and Wayne – who is a great director – said if you shoot the film, set in the 19^th Century, in English, it doesn’t make sense. You can show that the friendship was important then, but also that friendship is important now.

 

What sort of input did you have writing the script?

 

LS: I saw every version of the script and I always told them exactly what I thought and some of the things, they listened to and some of the things they didn’t. They did show me every version of the script and I told them exactly what I thought every single time! I wasn’t always as polite as I probably could’ve been, but they still showed me the next version. And when they were in China filming, they called me and e-mailed me with questions, asking different things that they wanted my thoughts and input on.

 

How did you feel about the addition of the modern-day section?

 

LS: Well, a book and a film are always completely different, even if you film a book as closely as you can, a film is always going to be different. A writer has created a novel…one person has total control over what happens between the jackets. It’s a very contained universe. And then you turn this part of art over to another artist. Now that person is in charge of that universe. But there are a lot of other people who have input, which you don’t have when you write a novel. A novel is pretty much the writer. But with film, you have actors who are saying ‘I don’t understand this line’ or ‘I need more motivation!’ Or you have a producer or a studio saying ‘We want more of this, we want less of that.’ So even though it’s a director’s medium, they have to listen and incorporate a lot of things that other people want. There are a lot of elements that are so completely different to when you’re writing. So I never had the expectation that it would be exactly the same as the novel. I think that Wayne had an idea, and whether it works or not, is up to others.

 

What other challenges did you face, Wendi?

 

WM: There are so many. The old part we shot in Hengdian, a movie studio outside Shanghai. To get there, you drive about three-and-a-half-hours. The modern part we shot in Shanghai. We were very lucky, because the modern part, we got many people to help us.

 

What did you want to show with the modern side of Shanghai?

 

WM: You go to Shanghai, people are really fashionable and love luxury goods. There are stores everywhere – it’s like New York or Seoul. And I just thought because the movie is based on this book about female friendship, [it shows] how from the 1800s women have no freedom, have arranged marriages, and you have no future, no education, and just limited opportunities. But in the new China, women can be anything. You can be bankers, lawyers, ministers. You have a freedom for love, freedom for career, education, everything. I just wanted to show the progress of China, how far women have come. And also I wanted to show the modern China – because China is such a hot topic right now. Everyone is interested in China, and what’s happening. Recently, with the European economic crisis, they want China to come and save them!

 

How do you see the tension in China between old traditions and modern-day living?

 

WM: In olden times, women didn’t have much choice in life. You had arranged marriages, you didn’t go to school, you were expected to have a son and produce children. Today, a woman can have free love, free choice. But we have a one-child policy, so we still have that restriction. Then we have the other part that is more stressful. Women from the past are more isolated. That’s why they developed this secret language, writing to each other, that men don’t understand. Today, women have all these opportunities, everything open. But with demanding jobs, complicated relationships are just as tough on women. That’s why friendship is good in old times, but also important now or in the future. That’s what the film tries to show. The cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong are bustling, but in the country, it’s still quite traditional. There are a lot of poor people, and people still have a hard life.

 

Lisa, did you think the finished film was impressive in its authenticity?

 

LS: In the part based on the book, they did a wonderful job. They hired a nu shu expert. They hired a foot-binding expert. They hired singers who knew old nu shu songs. There are a couple of women singing in the background, and that’s all very, very accurate, and it’s something I couldn’t put in a novel. I could say they sang but you wouldn’t be able to hear it. So I was really particularly impressed with that part of the film.

                                                                       

Anything that stood out?

LS: There’s a scene in the novel, a chapter called ‘The Letter of vituperation’. And this is when Lilly has now become Lady Lu, and there is a wedding gathering where all the room in the upstairs room are singing. And her friend Snow Flower comes in. With nu shu, one of the seven forms of writing, was called the ‘letter of vituperation’, where one woman would really get angry, angry, angry at another woman. And these letters all started the same way. Everybody, if you heard this opening line, you’d know ‘Oh, we’re going to hear a letter of vituperation’ – the Phoenix Squawks. In the novel, Lily says this and goes on with this long letter that is read aloud in front of everyone. By the end of the scene, Snow Flower has been completely disgraced and will now be in exile from the village and all women from now on. So in the film, Wayne decided to do it in a very different way. You have the people singing, Lady Lu is there and Snow Flower comes in. But instead of reading that letter, all these emotions play over Lady Lu’s face, and she just gets up and walks out of the room. And still Snow Flower has been disgraced. So with the music and the actions, all these film elements combine into something that I wouldn’t have had access to.

 

What are your plans now? Will you carry on producing more films?

 

WS: I always loved films, but this film got me started. It wasn’t like I planned to make a film, and then I found a book. I found a book and then thought it would make a good film. It’s so difficult, though, to make a film. This took me four years. Luckily, this film did really well in China, so I have a lot of people approaching me who want to give me money for my next project, all kinds of scripts. So I definitely want to continue to make films. But I want to choose very carefully, I want to focus on something I know about. Stories that are happening in China, but with universal themes that people can relate to…I can shoot them in China and then show them around the world.

Trailer for 'Snow Flower and the Secret Fan' here

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