(China) The Flowers of War (2011)

**FrighT MasteR** · 01-18-2012

Watched this Chinese war-drama from director Yimou Zhang (Hero, House of Flying Daggers) the other night and thought it was pretty good.

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.

The first 40-or-so minutes is pretty action-oriented (loved the badass Chinese sniper who took on several Japanese soldiers), while the rest of the film is primarily a war-drama, as we follow Bale's character learning to care for the students. His character goes from a selfish perverted drunkard to a caring man that goes to great lengths to ensure the kids safety. Good watch if you're into war dramas, but don't expect a whole lotta action.

7/10

http://imdb.com/title/tt1410063/
http://www.theflowersofwarmovie.com

**koolmike** · 01-18-2012

Looks really good. What did you think of Bales's performance?

**FrighT MasteR** · 01-18-2012

As expected, I thought it was excellent. Was a bit surprising to see a big star like Bale go from Dark Knight to this almost random Chinese war flick, but upon learning of the talent behind the camera it made more sense. The lead Chinese female was also good and spoke English surprisingly well.