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 & 16 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.

---

Plot Keywords:

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

---

Genres:

Drama | History | Romance | War

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

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:

$48,558, 20 January 2012, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$9,213, 19 May 2013

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$95,000,000, 28 July 2012

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was the second fully Chinese-funded film to have a Hollywood star in the lead. The first one was Inseparable (2011) starring Kevin Spacey.

---

Connections

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

---

Soundtracks

Introït of Requiem
[Gregorian, anonymous]

User Reviews

A film of exquisite beauty

Exquisite. Easily one of the most beautiful films ever made.

Moving, riveting, poetic, visually stunning, and dramatically gut wrenching.

Absolutely everything you could ever want a movie to be.

Poignant, poetic, full of beauty and life.

Not without moments of sentimentality, perhaps even, briefly, bordering on the saccharine. Still only those hardest of heart would be unmoved by this visual and emotional banquet.

If you are not moved by this film. You quite possibly may not be human.

An incredible mix of beauty and tension. Eye-dropping cinematography, heart pounding action. Yet full of life, humour and folly. Plays directly to your heart strings and plucks every chord with virtuosity.

In a just world this kind of film would be breaking box office records. But alas we prefer on mass to fix our eyes of adolescent spectacle. Consider how big the box office returns will be when Bale dons a bat suit this summer.

It's funny how a human interest story recreating events in history can be of so little interest to so many humans, the very ones who create history. It seems we would much rather gaze in wonder at our fantasies than contemplate our actions.

I urge anyone who loves cinema to see this film. It is a work of masterful craftsmanship.