The Flowers of War (2011)
"Jin líng shí san chai" (original title)

A Westerner finds refuge with a group of women in a church during Japan's rape of Nanking in 1937. Posing as a priest, he attempts to lead the women to safety.

Director:

Yimou Zhang

Writers:

Heng Liu (screenplay), Geling Yan (novel)

Stars:

Christian Bale, Ni Ni, Xinyi Zhang

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 5 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christian Bale	...	John Miller
Ni Ni	...	Yu Mo
Xinyi Zhang	...	Shu (as Zhang Xinyi)
Tianyuan Huang	...	George Chen (as Huang Tianyuan)
Xiting Han	...	Yi (as Han Xiting)
Doudou Zhang	...	Ling (as Zhang Doudou)
Dawei Tong	...	Major Li
Atsurô Watabe	...	Colonel Hasegawa (as Atsuro Watabe)
Kefan Cao	...	Mr. Meng (as Cao Kefan)
Yangchunzi Yuan	...	Mosquito (as Yuan Yangchunzi)
Jia Sun	...	Hua (as Sun Jia)
Yuemin Li	...	Dou (as Li Yuemin)
Bai Xue	...	Lan
Takashi Yamanaka	...	Lieutenant Asakura
Shigeo Kobayashi	...	Lieutenant Kato

Storyline

In 1937 China, during the second Sino-Japanese war, a mortician, John (Christian Bale) arrives at a Catholic church in Nanjing to prepare a priest for burial. Upon arrival he finds himself the lone adult among a group of convent girl students and prostitutes from a nearby brothel. When he finds himself in the unwanted position of protector of both groups from the horrors of the invading Japanese army, he discovers the meaning of sacrifice and honor.

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Plot Keywords:

church | japanese | rape | prostitute | soldier | 

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Genres:

Drama | History | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence including a sexual assault, disturbing images, and brief strong language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

China Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin English Japanese Shanghainese

Release Date:

16 December 2011 (China)

Also Known As:

13 Flowers of Nanjing

Box Office

Budget:

$94,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$48,558 (USA) (20 January 2012)

Gross:

$9,213 (USA) (17 May 2013)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Beijing New Picture Film Co., EDKO Film, New Picture Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

146 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

China's official submission to the Best Foreign Language Film category of the 84th Academy Awards 2012.

User Reviews

Great movie, highly recommended

It's a great movie, very touching. The background is Nanking Massacre, at that cruel and desperate history moment, the director finds a special perspective to show us goodness, hope, sacrifice and humanity. Although I've seen so many war movies before, this one is different. I could not help crying through the whole movie, even I told myself "This is just another war movie, you should control your tears" But the movie has nothing to do with intendedly giving audience slushy emotional scenes. Even at some dark and sad moments, there is no background music.

All the actors and actresses give a stellar performance. Good story, good acting, beautiful scene. My teacher once said "Audience never cry for tragedy，but they will cry for good things."

Anyway, it's a powerful movie, highly recommended.

PS: All the victims in Nanking Massacre deserve a serious apology from Japanese.