The Flowers of War

2011 [CHINESE]

Action / Drama / History / Romance / War

120
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 74% · 58 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 74% · 5K ratings
IMDb Rating 7.5/10 10 57998 58K

based on a true story rape based on novel or book brothel based on true story atrocity

Plot summary

A Westerner finds refuge with a group of women in a church during Japan's rape of Nanking in 1937. Posing as a priest, he attempts to lead the women to safety.

Director

Yimou Zhang Photo
Yimou Zhang

Top cast

Christian Bale Photo
Christian Bale as John Miller
Takashi Yamanaka Photo
Takashi Yamanaka as Lieutenant Asakura
Paul Schneider Photo
Paul Schneider as Terry
Shawn Dou Photo
Shawn Dou as Chinese Soldier
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
905.12 MB
1280*720
Chinese 2.0
NR
Subtitles cn  
23.976 fps
2 hr 26 min
Seeds 11
2.35 GB
1920*816
Chinese 2.0
NR
Subtitles cn  
24 fps
2 hr 26 min
Seeds 21

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by msmith5484 9 / 10

Don't miss. This deserves your attention.

Zhang Yimou has crafted a beautifully shot and compelling story set inside horrific events. About all I knew of this movie was it was set in 1937 China and starred Christian Bale. Not knowing much allowed me to be completely open to the journey of the characters. This is an emotionally powerful story about people caught in circumstances for which there seems no hope of survival. The Japanese soldiers are shown as barbaric, but we do meet an officer who attempts to remain honorable though he must do his duty to his superiors. The violence in the movie is brutal, but not graphic or gratuitous. The choices and sacrifices made by the characters never seemed contrived. The arc of Christian Bale's character may seem 'predictable', but it is never false or 'convenient' to the story. All actors are excellent. Because they're foreign to me I had no idea who they are or their other work. At the screening I attended we were introduced to Ni Ni, who said this was her first film. She is both beautiful and compelling. I wish her a long career. Yimou, through his daughter, told us about his journey to make this movie - based on a novel, based on real events. He has told an amazing story that will stay with me for a long time.
Reviewed by pinopino 8 / 10

It is a touching movie

I am about 40 and have been watching movies for 25 years. I must say I am no a professional except knowing what movie moves me keeply. This movie comes from a huge and heavy background. My history teacher cried sadly when she gave me the class about the darkest time in Chinese Modern history. For those who give cold comments about the movie, I confessed I tried hard to hold my tears next to my wife in the movie theatre.But the moment "little George" said: "there is no other way!" My salty tears kept rolling out! I hope people respect those victims and stopped saying this piece of history does not exist. There were brave American medicals and priests who risked their lives at that time to keep journals and photo about the crimes.Apart from prejudice, I consider that this movie is very controlled in a lot of ways. For many educated Chinese, we all read a lot of documents/short films and photo that were amazingly made by the Japanese soldiers themselves for showing off and promoting a sense of fears at that time. I am glad such scene is made in a very controlled yet enlighting manner. For a Chinese viewer, the burden to watch this movie is extremely heavy, especially before X'mas. I am glad this story is told in a small angle that reflects part of the whole picture. Apart from the history, it is a good film. Those characters are not as complex as the original novel. But as a whole it shows how a normal/powerless person could choose to do in one of the worst moments in modern history. No one is born hero. In war time,life may not worth more than a bullet, regardless which social class one is in. This movie tells a good story and I appreciate the making of such a touching film. One buddhish came to my mind: "a split of thoughts determine heaven or hell. " I would give a 8 because the film is solid and touching. However, it certainly is not an entertaining film for X'mas! I also appreciate those Japanese actors in the film. I knew from TV that they returned to the film making without delay after taking care of their families in earthquake!
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