The Flowers of War (2011)

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  May 30, 2012

  axadntpron

  Yimou brings his unique and stunning visual style to this tale of small moments of beauty in the midst of immense barbarism.
  Many people have heard of the infamous Rape of Nanking, a phrase coined by historian Iris Chang, and know that it was one of the most vile atrocities to ev... read moreer take place.
  While I was hoping that veteran director Zhang Yimou would take a sensitive, albeit Chinese centered, look at these macabre events, the Flowers of War was a bit too jingoistic for my taste.
  There are brave acts of heroism in every war, and as much as the Japanese were responsible for acts of unspeakable brutality, the saintly Chinese soldier theme was driven home a bit too much. I mean, when you take the time to show one soldier crying because of his comrade's bravery, it feels a bit like propaganda.
  However, I don't blame Yimou entirely for this as I heard that the Chinese censors proved very difficult to work with during the editing process. And I do appreciate him attempting to give nuance to some of the Japanese soldiers, most notably Mr. Hasegawa.
  While the film feels heavy-handed, it is entertaining. As mentioned before, Yimou's breathtaking visual style made for some very entertaining cinema, especially during the battle sequences. And while far from objective, the story of a group of disparate people banding together in the face of momentous adversity always tugs a bit at the heart strings.
  However, moving as some moments are, the over-the-top nature of this film is further exacerbated by Christian Bale's performance. Whether you are an ardent supporter of Bale, or have loathed him ever since he first appeared on the silver screen, I think everyone can agree that his performance here is just plain ridiculous. Whether it is him being a hedonistic booze-hound in the first act, or his dramatic turn as an honorable man of God in the second, he does it with no amount of subtlety. I like Bale and I don't know who is to blame for this ham-fisted act, but it just doesn't work here.
  While I could hardly expect a Chinese film about a massacre of Chinese people to be devoid of emotion, the film bore too close a resemblance to straight up propaganda for me to take it too seriously.

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  December 18, 2011

  panta2

  I had a pleasure to watch this movie on the opening night in the International cinema in Suzhou after spending last two weeks in Nanjing, where all these events occurred (Nanjing Massacre happened on the 13th December 1937). The Flowers of War (金陵十三... read more8039;) is a war drama directed by Zhang Yimou, starring Christian Bale, Tong Dawei and Shigeo Kobayashi. The film, which is based on the novel The 13 Women of Nanjing by Geling Yan, has been selected as the Chinese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards. Personally, I don't think it has much chance to win anything... it is like a good looking machine without the grunt!
  
  It is a good movie, but far from being a great movie. The "trademark" of the director Zhang Yimou ("Heroes") - lots of colour - is visible everywhere and stunning visual effects could not be ignored... but the multilingual "Flowers" with the big star Bale as a mortician posing as a priest during the massacre of Nanking did nothing spectacular to bring the terrible events closer to my heart! With an estimated budget of $100 million, "Flowers" is the most expensive movie in China's history and an evident point of pride for the country, which is looking to up its stock in Hollywood... but for me didn't do much!
  
  Well executed work of art... without the real power to move!
  Maybe I expected too much?

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  January 7, 2012

  mvieaddict

  Another 2012 GG nominated movie in the category Best Foreign Language,The Flowers of war was a dramatic story of a group of Nanking prostitutes, a group of young Chinese Catholic orphans and an American "priest" played by Christian Bale who took these girls and ladies under refu... read moregee and helped them during the Japanese massacre in Nanking in 1937. Chinese director Zhang Yimou brought here a powerful, touching and beautiful story, while delivering stunning visual effects.The script was based on true stories, painfully it was much worse, because there wasn't a hero,only constant desperation. The characters themselves were all well written and Christian Bale delivered a powerful performance as the lead character as he showed his efforts to help these young girls survive, and in his own sacrifice to escape Nanking.The film was really tragic but beautiful, where the evil of human nature was clearly exposed under the beast of war.

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  January 29, 2012

  ikuo1000

  As beautifully stylized as would be expected from a Zhang Yimou film, but also terribly graphic. Sadly, it was probably not an exaggerated account of Japan's Rape of Nanking.
  
  Christian Bale plays a shameless American mortician who, in order to survive, impersonates a priest. Ami... read mored the atrocities of war, he finds his courage and his moral compass.
  
  In times of war, there are heroes, big and small. Not all are well-known or publicly lauded, but that doesn't make their deeds any less honorable or brave.
  
  A few details compel me to give this movie a less-than-5-star rating. Towards the end, Christian Bale's character started to open up about his past, but his back story wasn't fleshed out; it was just enough to make you curious and then leave you hanging. Rather than adding to his character development, it seemed superfluous. Also, at one point, two people managed to leave the cathedral, which seemed incredulous given the armed guards outside. Even the characters in the movie repeatedly asked, "How did they get out?!" but no answer was ever given.

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  January 2, 2012

  sitenoise

  Not the best script. For every tug on your heart strings moment, and there's plenty of them, there's a roll your eyes moment, and I think there is more of the latter. It's too bad. I wanted to like the film, and I appreciate any film that can make me tear up, but this thing fell ... read moreout of the melodrama tree and broke every suspension of disbelief branch on its way down.

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  December 29, 2011

  justindavis1

  I wanted to like this movie but it's not very good. It's a bunch of piecemeal ideas without any depth, and the juxtaposition between the smarmy plot and the historical reality is pretty discomforting. This movie is nowhere near what it could have or should have been. Not reall... read morey recommended. As a big movie enthusiast I saw it but I not know that it's not really necessary.

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• Christian Bale as John Miller
• Paul Schneider
• Ni Ni as Yu Mo
• Shigeo Kobayashi as Lieutenant Kato
• Huang Tianyuan as George
• Dawei Tong as Major Li
• Atsurô Watabe as Colonel Hasegawa
• Cao Kefan as Mr. Meng
• Zhang Xinyi

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