An ambitious showcase for its two female leads: Sylvia Chang is gently radiant as Pui Yan, while capturing a woman whose intelligence and pride fuel her climb through a male-dominated world of wealth and power. And Anita Yuen is remarkable as Yip Fan: her powerful, moving, controlled portrayal of a physically and mentally wounded young woman's self-realization lingers in the memory. These two performances, and intriguing cinematography, inspire a film which is otherwise held back by its screenplay. Based on a novel by Liang Fengyi, the plot might have fit better into a miniseries: too many crises, one after the other, overload the film with melodrama and prevent any sort of narrative rhythm from establishing itself. Still, not to be missed for its stars.