Review of The Flowers of War (2011) by Iris L — 30 Dec 2011

Zhang Yimou's new film about Nanking, tells a story of a group of call girls who had sacrificed themselves in order to save the lives of young school girls. I have seen bits of that story before, in Lu Chuan's "City of Life and Death.

" Here in Zhang Yimou's movie, they are pretty much the focal point of the movie. Some of my Chinese friends (and the critics) did not like the film because of that. They felt that so little has come out about Nanking, that a movie telling the story of Nanking should not have focused on this particular story, but on all the human suffering and humiliation under the Japanese Occupation.

I appreciated the film as told by Zhang Yimou. His style is very different than Lu Chuan's in the the other movie about Nanking. Zhang Yimou's style, almost feels to me like an artist painting in brush strokes, sometimes wide, and sometimes very delicate.

His story of Nanking, is a story of small time heroes that maybe no one would know about or pay attention to. The sole Chinese solder who stayed on and on, to make sure the young girls get into the church.

. The drifter good for nothing, drunk character played by Christian Bale, who has a change of heart, and do many heroic actions to save life, and make life better for those around him.. The young boy, who was left to take care of the school girls, and would do it to the end.

And finally, the prostitutes, who could have taken a different route, and tried to out of the city, but chose otherwise... It is a movie that tells small human episodes of devotion and courage. It is beautifully done, with superb acting.

I must say I had reservations about Christian Bale, and came out quite impressed with his acting in this film..