The Flowers of War (2011)

An American finds refuge during the 1937 Japanese invasion of Nanking in a church with a group of women. 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 14 wins & 15 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
Atsuro Watabe	...	Colonel Hasegawa
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:

food shortage | starving child | attempted rape | abusive stepfather | sexual abuse | 

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Genres:

Drama | History | Romance | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

In 2011, director Yimou Zhang selected Palestinian filmmaker Annemarie Jacir to be his first protégé and invited her to work closely with him on set during production of this film, as well as another time in the editing room and post-production.

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Quotes

Yu Mo: Maybe with your help, I can save them.

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Connections

Featured in The 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards (2012)

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Soundtracks

Furusato
(Traditional Japanese Song)
Lyrics by Tatsuyuki Takano (1876-1947)
Music Composed by Teiichi Okano (1878-1941)
(performed onscreen by Colonel Hasegawa)

User Reviews

a movie definitely worth seeing

Honestly,I am not the kind of people easily being touched so deeply as to cry, and I didn't cry much during the movie indeed. I just walked out the movie theater,took a bus,got off the bus,bought a piece of bread, walked home while eating the bread,then all of sudden burst into tears.

Till now I still haven't walked out of it. There is so much to say, yet you don't know what to say nor how to say it. My only advice: you walk into the movie theater, forget whatever people said on the Internet, and just watch it with your own heart.

It is a great movie.

Details

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 USA:

$48,448, 22 January 2012

Gross USA:

$311,434

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,855,644

Company Credits

Production Co:

Beijing New Picture Film Co., Edko Films, New Picture Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

146 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Dolby (Dolby Surround 7.1)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1