I understand the objections, but still find this powerful and well filmed

Rating: 8/10 (7 February 2014)

The movies I've seen by the brilliant Yimou Zhang tend to fall roughly into two categories; big epics like Hero or smaller dramas like The Road Home. Flowers of War is an attempt to straddle these two styles, with a mix of bravura action and small, intense dramatic moments. It's difficult to pull off, and I wouldn't say it always works, but for the most part, this is a brilliant movie.
Flowers of War has received a lot of "The Color Purple"-style criticism along the lines of, "some things are too ugly to be made so beautiful." And while I disagreed with that analysis of Purple, I do, to some extent, agree here.
The movie immediately shows typical Zhang flourishes, like a small but marvelous moment where a cart full of fleeing people cuts the strings of a musical instrument as Japanese soldiers are hunting down and killing Chinese civilians in the famous Rape of Nanking.
The opening scenes are intense and disturbing. I had no familiarity with the Nanking massacre, and I would have thought it was exaggerated if I didn't spend a couple of hours reading about it. It represents the heights of human depravity. Imagine the horrific events of the movie repeated hundreds of thousands of times over a six-week period.
The movie focuses on a white mortician who comes to a girl's school which also winds up being sanctuary for some prostitutes. This leads to a lot of conflict and, in spite of the horrors, a certain amount of humor. There is also a thread running through of the last of the city's Chinese soldiers vainly attempting to stop the Japanese.
There is something disconcerting about Zhang's bravura filmmaking in the context of the horrors of this massacre. A rape scene centered around the school's gorgeous stained-glass window is electrifying, but one's enthusiasm for its stylistic grace conflicts with the grim horrors of the scene.
There is also a wonderful scene with the final soldier, played brilliantly by Dawei Tong, taking out a slew of enemy soldiers. It's an exciting action sequence full of intense moments, but it feels a little unrealistic and out of place, as though it belongs in a different film altogether.
So yes, it's often unrealistic, leans too much on clichés, and is filmed in a way that often seems more about the art of filmmaking than about the content of the movie.
On the other hand, there is much to recommend it. First off, the filmmaking really is incredible. Even if you object that it's the wrong style for the subject, there are a lot of moments where you have to be in awe of the artistic vision.
The movie also has some terrific performances. Besides Tong's tight- lipped soldier, Christian Bale is excellent, bringing a mix of macho obnoxiousness and genuine feeling to the clichéd role of a cynic finding his soul. Above all is Ni Ni as prostitute Yu Mo, a mix of brains, beauty, bravery, and flirtatious mastery that made me think of Lauren Bacall in To Have and Have Not.
The movie is touching, and funny, and stylish, and thoroughly absorbing, for all its flaws.
It's also painful to watch. I know there are movies that are said to handle the Nanking Massacre better than this one, but it's such an overwhelmingly grim subject that I just cannot bear to delve into it again.