A Masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (28 March 2012)

The Flowers of War is a 2011 Historical drama war directed by directed by Zhang Yimou, starring Christian Bale, Ni Ni, Zhang Xinyi, Tong Dawei, Atsuro Watabe, Shigeo Kobayashi and Cao Kefan. It is set in 1937, Nanjing, China, during the "Rape of Nanjing", at the time of the Second Sino-Japanese War. A group of escapees, finding sanctuary in a church compound, try to survive the plight and persecution brought on by the violent invasion of the city It was named the top-grossing Chinese film of 2011. It was selected as the Chinese entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards, but did not make the final shortlist. It also received a nomination for the 69th Golden Globe Awards. The 6th Asian Film Awards presented The Flowers of War with several individual nominations, including Best Film and one will understand why all the hype and the nominations. This is the best historical drama that doesn't take sides of the war, who is far or who isn't, who started what and who didn't like any other war dramas we have seen. It doesn't try to justify it but it shows the evil and the results of war. This was a tearful experience both from an older kind (the prostitutes in the movie) as well as the children (the kids in the movie). This makes you ask the question on the subject of war, Japanese and Chinese war in this case or any other war you have heard of: One wonders why they had to do this? Why did Japan start the war? For what? Its obvious starting war is a shortcut to the destruction of humanity. The Japanese government has been denying there were 300,000 people killed during the Nanking massacre (well, they are not alone, similarly there are also those of holocaust denial). The Flowers of War does a great deal in reminding is of these events so that we could do all we can to prevent another war from coming. The actors and the actresses were great and I applaud Christian Bale for his role, yet again he proves he is undisputed in the way he takes his roles and make them comes to life. The graphics awesome and characters superb, script well executed to such an extent you can hardly draw a line or separate the comedy and drama in it. Go hire this it is worth your time and it is a masterpiece.