Rated
R (Strong Violence including a Sexual Assault, Disturbing Images, and Brief
Strong Language)
Running
Time: 2 Hours & 26 Minutes
Cast-
Christian
Bale-John Miller
Ni
Ni-Yu Mo
Zhang
Xinyi-Shu-Juan Meng
Huang
Tian-Yuan-George Chen
Tong
Dawei-Major Li
Atsuro
Watabe-Colonel Hasegawa
Cao
Kefan-Mr. Meng
Han
Xiting-Yi
Zhang
Doudou-Ling
Yuan
Yangchunzi-Mosquito
Sun
Jia-Hua
Li
Yuemin-Dou
Bai
Xue-Lan
Takashi
Yamanaka-Lieutenant Asakura
Shigeo
Kobayashi-Lieutenant Kato
Paul
Schneider-Terry
Directed
by Zhang Yimou
 |
| John Miller (Christian Bale) and George Chen (Huang Tian-Yuan) confront the devastation the Japanese wrought in 1937 Nanking in Zhang Yimou's "The Flowers of War." |
Note: In English and Nanking Mandarin with English subtitles.
Back
when I was a sophomore in high school, my history teacher took our class to the
Museum of Jewish Heritage—A Living
Memorial to the Holocaust in lower Manhattan, New York as we were studying
World War II at the time. Called by Adolf Hitler as his ‘Final Solution,’ the
Holocaust was the systematic genocide of approximately six million European Jews
and other ‘undesirables’ in the name of Nazi ideology. A number of films such
as Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler's List” and Roman Polanski’s “The Pianist”
have dealt with the Holocaust but one equally horrific event that continues to
be overlooked is the Nanking Massacre or ‘Rape of Nanking’ where Japanese
soldiers engaged in mass murder and rape over a six-week period following their
capture of the city on December 13, 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Being
Chinese, the barbaric actions that the Japanese committed has been brought up
quite a few times among my family, with my mother remarking that it was my
‘obligation’ to hate the Japanese for what they did. I am not one to condemn an
entire people but such feelings are the reason why China and Japan continue to
share a tenuous relationship seventy-five years later. I always felt that the
Nanking Massacre was marginalized compared to the attention that the Holocaust
has received around the world and while it has
been the subject of a few films, none have really connected with a Western
audience with the exception of 2009’s “City of Life and Death” directed by Lu
Chuan. Now we have “The Flowers of War” from acclaimed Chinese director Zhang
Yimou, a historical drama/war film based upon the 2011 novel 13 Flowers of Nanking by Geling Yan.
With a production budget of $94 million, this is the most expensive film made in China and is the first to be headlined
by a major Hollywood actor. “The Flowers of War” has its heart in the right
place but the film ultimately makes for an emotionally hollow experience as Zhang
Yimou never nails down the proper tone, resorting to predictable clichés and
overblown melodrama in his attempts to tell a sweeping tale of redemption and
sacrifice.
Taking place a few days after Nanking has fallen to the invading
Japanese on December 13, 1937, a number of Catholic schoolgirls led by Shu-Juan
Meng (Zhang Xinyi) flee for their lives from a band of marauding soldiers.
Meanwhile, an American mortician named John Miller (Christian Bale) makes his
way through the devastated streets of the city to bury Father Ingleman, the
head priest at Winchester Cathedral. John finds himself hiding with Shu to
escape the notice of a suspicious Japanese soldier and learns that she happens
to be a student at the same church he is going to. Arriving at Winchester, John
is told by George Chen (Huang Tian-Yuan), an orphan adopted by Ingleman, that
there is no body to bury due to it being blasted away by a bomb. John insists
that he still has to be paid and searches the church for money despite the
protestations of George. A short time later, a group of flamboyant prostitutes
led by Yu Mo (Ni Ni) from the local red-light distract come to the church
looking for shelter, believing that the presence of a Westerner like John will
protect them from the Japanese. Seeing so many attractive women and taking
advantage of Ingleman’s comfortable lodgings, John decides to spend the night
at the church. He drunkenly tries to sleep with Yu Mo but when Japanese
soldiers break into the church looking for girls to rape, John decides to pose
as the head priest in order to save them. John is faced with a difficult decision
when Shu and the rest of the schoolgirls are ordered by Colonel Hasegawa
(Atsuro Watabe) to attend a party with dark intentions.
From 1991’s “Raise the
Red Lantern” to 2002’s “Hero,” Zhang Yimou has earned numerous accolades for
his work and deservedly so but “The Flowers of War” represents a rare misstep
as his film is marred by plot contrivances, predictable clichés, and a tone
that is all over the place in an attempt to appeal to both American and Chinese
audiences. The film does not shy away from the brutality of what happened in
Nanking with soldiers being mercilessly gun downed on both sides and women
being gang-raped but these grim realities of war never entirely gel with the
cavalier attitudes that some of the characters display. Despite seeing the
destruction wrought by the Japanese, John is all smiles during the first forty
or so minutes of the film as he flirts with the prostitutes, who spend their
time giggling over trivial matters while a war rages on outside. John
eventually grows to sympathize with the schoolgirls’ plight but the prostitutes
never treat their plight seriously, robbing much of the urgency and anguish
we’re supposed to feel during the last half-hour. The transformation of John
from drunkard to savior is also rushed and never comes about organically. It feels like two totally different characters
played by the same actor as the plot barrels along in a forced manner. In one
scene, Yu Mo discovers two of the prostitutes have snuck out of the church for
the most ridiculous reasons and while Zhang Yimou wants to emphasize the
helplessness of women at the hands of the Japanese, the set-up throws logic out
the window. Worst yet is how predictable the film is. Once John says he’s ‘not
good with kids’ and locks eyes with Yu Mo, it’s immediately clear that the two
will fall in love and that he’ll give up his booze-drinking ways to save the
schoolgirls. The film aspires for earnest pathos and resorts to weepy melodrama
to provoke the reaction it wants from the audience but too often the hamstrung
dialogue prevents that from happening.
The script was written by Liu Heng and
approximately half the film is spoken in English with the rest in Nanking
Mandarin. Dialogue exchanges in English often come off as awkward as it seems
to have been translated from Chinese, resulting in lines that are grammatically
correct but incredibly stilted due to the phonetic delivery. What “The Flowers
of War” does well is capture the heightened sense of fear and desperation that
George and the schoolgirls feel, making you wish the film focused on them
rather than on the schmaltzy romance. A scene where a group of Japanese
soldiers chase the girls through the church in an attempt to rape them is
harrowing to watch and while some may complain that the Japanese are depicted
as little more than brutes, this is what
happened. Colonel Hasegawa is presented as a homesick Japanese soldier
forced to carry out his duty but his inclusion lacks the nuance compared to Lu
Chuan’s “City of Life and Death.” Near the end of the film, George pleads with
John to let him sacrifice himself and it is at this point that I felt what
Zhang Yimou wanted me to feel but it’s ultimately too little too late. Zhang
Yimou’s style is often punctuated by his rich use of color and it’s no
different here, although the constant use of slow motion feels excessive such
as when a pipa’s strings snap apart or bullets whizzing through the church’s garishly
colored window. The production design is excellent and the battle scenes are
well-choreographed as Chinese soldiers futilely attempt to slow the advance of
the Japanese. The story is a mess but no will deny that “The Flowers of War”
produces some striking images.
The acting is a mixed bag but some of the blame
lies with how the English dialogue was written. Christian Bale is one of my
favorite actors but this is one of his weakest performances. He tries to inject
a sense of humor and earnestness in John but his character is little more than
an excuse to pander to Americans too lazy to read subtitles. Ni Ni exudes
eroticism as she sashays across the church despite the formal way she delivers
her dialogue. However, she and Bale never has the spark that the film
repeatedly strives for. Finally, there’s Huang Tian-Yuan’s George and Zhang
Xinyi’s Shu, who are excellent in capturing the all-pervasive fear and
hopelessness that their lives could end at any moment in time.
“The Flowers of
War” was released on December 16, 2011 in China and in New York City five days
later for one week to qualify for the 84th Academy Awards. It had an expanded
limited release on January 20, 2012 but inspired little interest as American
audiences are largely indifferent to foreign language films, ultimately
grossing a disappointing $311,434. However, the film has already become a box
office hit in China, grossing close to $100 million. The film failed to impress
critics with 41% Rotten Tomatoes as many pointed out that Yimou’s approach was
too heavy-handed due to the exaggerated sentimentalism. While it was nominated
for Best Foreign Language Film at the 69th Golden Globe Awards, it lost to
Iran’s “A Separation” and wasn’t even able to make the final shortlist for the
84th Academy Awards. The Nanking Massacre is an important event in Chinese
history that should and needs to be
explored more in film but “The Flowers of War” never nails down the proper tone
with its confused mix of brutality and mawkish melodrama. This is a noble
effort from Zhang Yimou that ultimately fails to achieve what it set out to do.
Final
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
“This
is a house of the Lord! These are children! You are breaking the laws of Man
and of God! No soldiers here! You have no business being here! I am the priest!
And I command you, in the name of the Father to leave now! You are honorable
men, behave honorably!”
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