The Flowers of War

Original title: Jin ling shi san chai

2011
R
2h 26m

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

57K

YOUR RATING

Christian Bale, Ni Ni, Jia Sun, Bai Xue, Xiting Han, Xinyi Zhang, and Yuemin Li in The Flowers of War (2011)

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

Play trailer2:33

3 Videos

99+ Photos

Drama History Romance War

An American finds refuge during the 1937 Japanese invasion of Nanking in a church with a group of women. Posing as a priest, he attempts to lead the women to safety.An American finds refuge during the 1937 Japanese invasion of Nanking in a church with a group of women. Posing as a priest, he attempts to lead the women to safety.An American finds refuge during the 1937 Japanese invasion of Nanking in a church with a group of women. Posing as a priest, he attempts to lead the women to safety.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

57K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 15 wins & 16 nominations total

Shu
(as Zhang Xinyi)

Tianyuan Huang

George Chen
(as Huang Tianyuan)

Xiting Han

Yi
(as Han Xiting)

Doudou Zhang

Ling
(as Zhang Doudou)

Dawei Tong

Major Li

Atsuro Watabe

Colonel Hasegawa

Kefan Cao

Mr. Meng
(as Cao Kefan)

Yangchunzi Yuan

Mosquito
(as Yuan Yangchunzi)

Jia Sun

Hua
(as Sun Jia)

Yuemin Li

Dou
(as Li Yuemin)

Bai Xue

Shigeo Kobayashi

Lieutenant Kato

Paul Schneider

Terry

Chun Li

Woman of the Qin Huai River
(as Li Chun)

Mengqiao Zhou

Woman of the Qin Huai River
(as Zhou Mengqiao)

Liuyin Qian

Woman of the Qin Huai River
(as Qian Liuyin)

Director
- Yimou Zhang
Writers
- Heng Liu
- Geling Yan
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Storyline

Edit

Did you know

Edit

Trivia
The film grossed more than $310 million in the domestic (Chinese) box office, making it the highest grossing Chinese production of all time.

Quotes
John Miller: The way you are now, is what I like the best. I see you. I see everything that you've been through. And I want all of that, Mo. I want all of it. I love it. I love it all.

Alternate versions
Unlike most versions of movies released in China but produced by other countries, which often cut scenes (usually for violence), this film was shown with additional scenes in Hong Kong and Taiwan. These chiefly pertained to the Chinese and Japanese troop battle early in the film. This Chinese-released version contains 3 minutes 46 seconds of additional footage.

Connections
Featured in The 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards (2012)

Soundtracks
Love Theme 1
Performed by Joshua Bell and Yi Zhang
(Played during Opening Credits)
Composed by Qi Gang Chen

User reviews191

Review

Featured review

8/10

Christian Bale in Japanese-occupied China again

I don't know whether or not you've heard about the Rape of Nanking, but everyone should know about it. Having captured the Chinese city, Japanese forces committed a near genocide against the population and devastated the city. Zhang Yimou's "Jīnlíng Shísān Chāi" ("The Flowers of War" in English) focuses on a Nanking church where an American (Christian Bale) takes up residence and then must protect the inhabitants from the occupying forces. The inhabitants are the schoolgirls, and also a group of prostitutes. Eventually, everyone faces a moral dilemma.

There are some very ugly scenes of the occupation. The Japanese occupation of China and Korea has never gotten the attention that the Nazi occupation of Europe has, but it was equally brutal (as was the Italian occupation of Ethiopia). The main focus here is on the events inside the church, but there is ample focus on the atrocities committed by the Japanese. The movie does a very good job in every way. It is always important to tell these stories so that they never happen again. I very much recommend the movie.

PS: Bale had previously starred in Steven Spielberg's "Empire of the Sun", about a boy who gets separated from his parents in Japanese-occupied China. I also recommend that one.