Review of The Flowers of War (2011) by Yujie S — 21 Jan 2014

If you're looking for a straight forward arnie style action movie then dont bother putting this on as you'll probably just whitey all over the carpet. Having read most of the other reviews before I began writing this I noticed distinctively just how many of the reviewers seemed to complain about the violent nature (both in terms of gore and sexual violation) of the film as being unrealistic but frankly I believe that this is simply down to their expectation of viewing a film more similar to Spielberg's saving private ryan.

Why was this so much more explicit? you may ask. Well its because the event that this movie happens to focus on (i.e. the sacking of Nanjing) was in reality notoriously more inhumane than the events that unfolded in the villages of Northern France and even the shores of Normandy.

If you dont believe me then look it up and educate yourself. War is an awful thing and in my opinion the grittiness of this film shows war for what it really is far better than any film like saving private ryan or enemy at the gates does.

The events that unfold in times of war arent meant to be easy to watch and as human beings being able to spend a few hours sitting in a chair comfortably watching the events of a war being retold is not meant to be and so it is only reasonable to conclude that there is something missing from those films and that something is the grittiness that this film has almost uniquely to itself.

So please do not be put off by the slander before and give this film a watch. If you find watching this uncomfortable then know that its only because you are human.