The Flowers of War (2011)
Average Rating: 5.5/10
Reviews Counted: 56
Fresh: 23 | Rotten: 33
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 4.8/10
Critic Reviews: 15
Fresh: 2 | Rotten: 13
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.8/5
User Ratings: 5,268
My Rating
Movie Info
In 1937, Nanking stands at the forefront of a war between China and Japan. As the invading Japanese Imperial Army overruns China's capital city, desperate civilians seek refuge behind the nominally protective walls of a western cathedral. Here, John Miller (Christian Bale), an American trapped amidst the chaos of battle and the ensuing occupation takes shelter, joined by a group of innocent schoolgirls and thirteen courtesans, equally determined to escape the horrors taking place outside the
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Christian Bale
John Miller -
Ni Ni
Yu Mo -
Shigeo Kobayashi
Lieutenant Kato -
Huang Tianyuan
George -
Dawei Tong
Major Li -
Atsurô Watabe
Colonel Hasegawa -
Cao Kefan
Mr. Meng -
-
ADVERTISEMENT
All Critics (56) | Top Critics (15) | Fresh (25) | Rotten (33) | DVD (2)
Zhang's flamboyant camera choreography and diva-ish flounces of melodrama are vivid but misplaced.
Top Critic"The Flowers of War" seems like a pretty good film until you begin to think about it.
An unsettling mixture of spectacular brutality and sentimentality that might make even Steven Spielberg blush.
The director's grip on the drama is often weakened by his penchant for creating spectacles.
All Zhang's splendor does is foster cognitive dissonance in an audience.
A strange hybrid of "City of Life and Death" and "Father Goose" that nevertheless, in the hands of Zhang Yimou, musters a few striking moments.
Christian Bale says he will never get too big to make daring choices in the roles he plays.
Christian Bale carries yet another bloated war drama with a performance that slowly develops in front of your eyes.
The filming techniques cross Saving Private Ryan with Zimou's own Hero and other dynastic, martial arts-driven Chinese epics.
It contributes nothing of value to an understanding of these events.
It can look tremendous, even if Zhao Xiaoding's hyper-stylised '90-retro cinematography sits uneasily beside relentless bloodshed and sexual violations.
Bale is forthright and emotional in the role, and with a hint of boyish vulnerability, even reminds us of his 13-year-old self in Spielberg's Empire of the Sun.
Maudlin make-believe in which a molecule of fact has been dropped like vermouth into a martini ...
Zhang gives his fondness for chaste melodrama and shimmering colours full rein: it's a style that suits his courtly martial arts films such as Hero, but this material would have benefited from a more Spielbergian, or perhaps David Lean-ian, approach.
While absorbing and never dull you can't help feeling the horrific subject matter deserved rather more subtle handling.
The title alludes to a precious beauty that grows during times of war, but this is just taking things way too far. The colour here is way off.
Impressively directed and beautifully shot, this is a compelling, superbly acted drama that exerts a powerful emotional grip, though it's impossible not to suspect that certain liberties have been taken with the actual events.
It is is impossible not to be moved. Bales sometimes overeggs his Western saviour yet is watchable throughout, imbuing Miller with a nobility that is only explained in the final reel.
As you'd expect, it's beautiful, emotional and exciting, if florid in style. Bale, beauties and English dialogue widen Yimou's appeal.
Um filme que peca ao ouvir a expressão "espetáculo de crueldade" e conferir maior peso à primeira palavra do que à segunda.
Veering from the sensational to the maudlin, this is a compromised epic that panders to the Chinese audience.
...the movie's less-than-engrossing atmosphere [is] compounded by its stagy and distressingly uneventful midsection...
Not only huge and unwieldy, but seemingly unsure of what it wants to do/say/prove.
Audience Reviews for The Flowers of War
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
Discussion Forum
There are no discussion threads for The Flowers of War yet.
Latest News on The Flowers of War
December 22, 2011:
The Humble Beginnings of Christian BaleBefore he was a star, he was a fast-footed pitchman for Pac-Man Cereal.
December 16, 2011:
Christian Bale Involved in Skirmish with Chinese Security GuardsYou totally read that right.
What's Hot On RT
The Last Stand, Side Effects
Trailer for new Coen Bros movie
Fast & Furious cars gallery
Blockbusters ranked!
Featured on RT
- In Pictures: The Cars of Fast & Furious 0
- Digital Multiplex: Warm Bodies and Aftershock 4
- Discover the Best-Reviewed Films in Summer Movie Scorecard 2013 0
- RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: The Last Stand and Side Effects 16
- Box Office Guru Wrapup: Star Trek Softer Than Expected at #1 85
- Weekly Ketchup: Will Smith to Star in Wild Bunch Remake? 39
- Critics Consensus: Star Trek Into Darkness is Certified Fresh 107
Top Headlines
-
Which Film Franchise Has Been the Best for Female Characters?
2
-
Damon Lindelof Talks Tomorrowland
0
-
10 Movies About Really Fast Cars
0
-
Poltergeist Remake Synopsis Hints at Plot Differences
6
-
Kristen Wiig Says Welcome to Me
1
-
David Fincher's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Gets Bumped
0
-
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance Remake in the Works
0
Fresh Links
Featured
Star Trek Movies Ranked
HitFix offers their own take on the worst-to-best of the Enterprise crew's cinematic adventures.
Top 10 Star Trek Villains
Rolling Stone unveils the Enterprise's most irksome adversaries.
Celebrity Yearkbook Flashback
We'll bet you never realized how many stars were cheerleaders and high school athletes!
50 Most Classic Movie Moms
In celebration of Mother's Day, TimeOut offers up 50 iconic matriarchs from the big screen.
Weirdest Movie Siblings
From Twins to The Royal Tenenbaums, Moviefone explores cinema's oddest siblings.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter!
Spice up your feed with hourly Tomatometer updates!
Foreign Titles
- The Flowers of War (Jin ling shi san chai) (DE)
- The Flowers of War (Jin ling shi san chai) (UK)
The story is about how a dozen of prostitutes saved girl students from uncivilized Japanese soldiers during the Nanjing (Nanking) massacre period, set in 1937.
The director Yimou Zhang told a powerful, touching and beautiful story, while delivering stunning visual effects as always. All actors from different countries did an amazing job in making so many strong characters in 3 languages, not just the American 'priest', but also those prostitutes, the boy George, all the children, Japanese officers, and the Chinese 'traitor'.
Bale made an excellent performance in this Chinese film and a Chinese leading actress, Ni Ni, is new face and became a new "Mou girl" like Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi.