本片以旅居美國的四對華裔母女為中心，講述了幾個家庭近百年來的遭遇，從而對比中國女性從受盡屈辱的祖母輩逐漸成長為具有獨立人格和經濟地位的新一代女性。
雖然這不能算作一部國產電影，但它講述的卻是中國人的故事。在中國舊社會裡不同家庭成長背景下的四位女性，在各自不幸的婚姻與家庭生活中，在社會劇變下，輾轉來到美國開始重新生活。她們各自組建了新的家庭，但是她們培育孩子的觀念依然很中國。競爭、攀比，滿足父母的虛榮，孩子的成績成為成年人的武器。四個女人——四位母親因為打牌成為朋友，直到其中一個女人病逝，她的女兒——本電影的第一講述人追憶母親，以及她們的過往。作為在美國出生、長大的女兒，並不理解中國舊社會裡成長起來的母親。而這，被女孩母親的朋友們認為是“不孝”。因此，帶著對已故母親的重新認識之渴望，女孩第一次搭乘飛機，隻身來到了1990年的中國，與她同母異父的姐姐相認。故事感人。
推薦理由：以美籍華人的全新視角來認識中國人的傳統
This adaptation of Amy Tan’s novel masterfully weaves the stories of four Chinese immigrant mothers and their American-born daughters. Set against the backdrop of San Francisco’s mahjong tables, the film explores a profound cultural and generational divide . The mothers carry unspeakable trauma from wartime China—abandonment, loss, and brutal survival—while the daughters grapple with the pressure of these inherited ghosts alongside modern American anxieties. The narrative structure is elegant, shifting between past and present to show how pain is both inherited and transformed. When one of the four elderly women passes away, her daughter reflects on her mother’s memories and their shared past. As a woman born and raised in America, she struggles to understand her mother, who grew up in China's old society and takes her first flight alone, traveling to China in 1990 to meet her older half-sister. The movie offers a fresh view of Chinese traditions through the lens of Chinese-Americans. The closing image of a swan feather, symbolizing hope and good intentions passed from mother to daughter, is deeply moving. It is a lush, sincere, and complex look at how the past refuses to stay buried, and how understanding where you come from is the only way to know who you are .
