Review of The Flowers of War (2011) by Jonathan B — 08 Oct 2012
The Flowers of War is interesting for a few reasons. It is the most expensive Chinese film ever made, budgeted at over $90 million. It stars Christian Bale amid an all Asian cast, marking somewhat of a career circle for Bale and a parallel to his first film, Empire of the Sun.
It is directed by notable director Yimou Zhang of Hero fame and focuses on one of the most horrible human atrocities of the 20th century, the raping of Nanking. All of this amounts to Flowers being a solid and meaningful film, but alas its lofty ambitions are never fully met.
The whole wartime profiteer who has a change of heart and becomes a hero has been played out to death, as has the white man comes in and saves the day trope. Flowers fares better than most in these areas, but it still doesn't completely escape unscathed and is a little lacking in the character development department.
The story has some pacing problems and definitely should have been cut down by a good 15-20 minutes. The acting is good but not awards level good that was needed to take it over the top, which is likely due to the language barrier.
Flowers of War sheds light on an event we here in the West have usually all too easily forgotten, which makes it a shame it stops short of the cross-cultural success I feel like its makers were striving for.
This review of The Flowers of War (2011) was written by Jonathan B on 08 Oct 2012.
The Flowers of War has generally received positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
