The Flowers of War

Chinese director Zhang Yimou returns with another period drama that uses the infamous Nanjing massacre in the background. During the Japanese invasion of Nanjing in 1937, an American man gets trapped with a group of convent girls and courtesans in a church where they try to survive the ordeal that requires a great deal of courage and sacrifice. The challenge that faced the filmmakers were how to make a film about one of the darkest episodes in Chinese history that would appeal to a world wide audience. In that case, Yimou found the right approach to use it as background due to its limited appeal, however the contrived story and plot using fake heroism and sex appeal undermines the scope of the actual tragedy. Christian Bale stars as the clueless American who finds his calling in the hour of crisis is more worthy of Hollywood formula film than a foreign film. The film marks the debut of the stunning Ni Ni who could follow the path of Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi. 1001 Films' coverage of upcoming releases.