"contains spoilers"

Rating: 9/10 (18 May 2014)

The flowers of war is a heart wrenching film set in 1937 in the southern city of Nanjing, China. The director Zhang Yi Mou tells the story of an American mortician, a group of young girls raised in the catholic convent and a gaggle of prostitutes all trying to survive in the war torn city of Nanjing that has been overtaken by the Japanese. Zhang Yi Mou, one of China's fifth generation film makers, well known for his early films known as the red trilogy, masterfully captures the emotion, despair, and desperation of war through the eyes of a young girl named Shu. The film is narrated by Shu, a young girl who has grown up in the catholic convent where she and a group of young girls have learned the ways of Catholicism and have learned to speak English from the late resident priest, father Ingleman. Shu in this film is a symbol of innocence and virtue liken unto the mother of Jesus, the virgin Mary. Shu manages to survive a few near misses throughout the film. In the opening scene she is running and hiding from Japanese soldiers she remains undetected and is unintentionally saved by the charismatic John Miller (Christian Bale). Another time where Shu is spared this time of her virginity at the hands of Japanese soldiers is when two soldiers begin to tear her clothes from her body the two soldiers are shot in the back of the head by a Chinese sniper, the last of his platoon. She is saved once again when Shu and the other girls decide to jump from the cathedral's highest tower to preserve their virtue being taken by the Japanese. This time it is the films heroine Zhu Mo who pleads them not to jump and instead presents a plan of salvation where the prostitutes would take their place when the soldiers returned to collect them. John Miller an American mortician is trying desperately to avoid danger and death at the hands of the Japanese army. And he somehow finds himself the father and saviour like figure for the young girls and the group of prostitutes. He begins the film with a beard and looking quite rugged. His appearance resembles Jesus. All the characters in the film have found refuge in a cathedral the only place in Nanjing that hasn't been affected by the war. John goes through a significant change in his film from being a self-concerned mortician to a man of the cloth. John first puts on the robes of the late father Ingleman as a joke but through the film develops into the role of father figure and is referred to in the film as father John. He assumes the role of father to all that have found refuge in the Cathedral. The shaving of his beard portrays this change from selfish to selfless. With the hair gone and a clean-shaven face John begins his selfless journey where every decision he makes affects the lives of those who are now in his stewardship.
Our other main character, the heroine and the love interest to John is Yu Mo. The relationship develops between John and Yu Mo from a client service provider type relationship to a mutual respect and sincere love for one another. If John is the father then Yu Mo assumes the role as mother in this film. Yu Mo is like the older sister and considered the leader to the group of ladies from the Huai Xin river district. She sees a younger version of herself in Shu, because she also can speak English and spent 6 years in a convent. When she was thirteen she was raped by her stepfather. It was Yu Mo's plan to take the place of the young girls in order to preserve something that was taken from her her innocence and virtue. The ladies from the red light district in their selfless act of sacrifice are given a makeover to look young and innocent to trick the Japanese. This honourable sacrifice seems to outweigh the dishonourable lives they have lived as prostitutes. After their makeover they say to one another comments like "if my mother could see me now, she would be so proud". Referring to their fresh faced innocent look, like they did in their youth. Zhang Yi Mou uses some interesting symbolism in this film. I think red is a symbolic colour in this film which may characteristic of an Yi Mou film. Red represents death, beauty, safety and virtue in this film. Yu Mo has red lipstick and a red Qi pao (traditional Chinese dress) representing beauty and desire. A huge red cross on a cloth outside the cathedral that represented safety, peace and refuge. Red is the colour of blood and violence. We see red blood sprayed across a white sheet as Dou one of the prostitutes is violently stabbed by a Japanese soldier after being raped. This can be compared with the Japanese flag. It has a white background with a red sun splatterd across it. One other symbolic feature in this film is the stain glass windows of the cathedral. Shu first sees the group of prostitutes through the windows and this image stays in her mind. When she is saved from being raped it took place under the huge windows. When the soldiers were killed by a sniper Shu was left with one of the soldiers blood sprayed across her face staring up at the windows with the sun shinning through reflecting the colours of the window onto Shu's face, another memory that we assume will remain with her for the rest of her life. The symbolism in this film along with a renowned director, great actors and a heart wrenching and well told story really made watching this film an enjoyable experience.