divemaster13
Member: Rank 4
For Monday's Review, I tackle a recent watch-- Yimou Zhang's The Flowers of War. I was just going to post a paragraph in the "recently seen" thread, but I kept writing and writing and, well, it ended up full-length. So here you go.
The Flowers of War (2011)
Directed by Yimou Zhang
Starring Christian Bale, Ni Ni, and a bunch of Chinese girls
In English, Mandarin, and Japanese, with English subtitles as appropriate
Film: 3 stars (out of 5)
Yimou Zhang has made movies that are beautiful, movies that are emotionally gut-punchingly effective, movies that are sweet, and movies that I easily put in my “top whatever” lists. I really really wanted to put The Flowers of War into any of the above categories, but for me it missed the mark. Certainly not a bad movie by any means, and it didn’t miss the mark by all that much, but the distractions kept me from fully enjoying it. Every time I wanted to allow myself to be moved, to really feel the emotional wallop, it slipped by me. For the most part I didn’t care all that much, as much as I wanted to.
The plot is compelling. A westerner, John Miller (played by Christian Bale) is working in 1937 Nanking during the early portion of the Japanese conquest. He finds himself, by a series of circumstances, lies, and misunderstandings, posing as a Catholic priest in a semi-abandoned church/school that houses a group of young Chinese teen girl students. A young teen boy tries to get them to a “refuge/safety zone” area but fails. They are desperately in need of adult assistance when Miller shows up. Unfortunately for the kids, his only intent is to pilfer the cashbox and whatever booze he can get his hands on. However, before he can sober up and be on his way, another group of women find the church and want to hide out there. This bunch is a group of prostitutes who had to flee their nearby brothel with nothing much more than the clothes on their back.
So we would seem to be set up for a powerful story. Will Miller have a moral awakening and help the girls and women? Will they survive? How will they escape the Japanese?
But so many things took me out of the movie. I totally get why a westerner plays the main role and have no problem with that. But Christian Bale's performance is so annoying (and dare I say, bad) during the first half of the movie, by the time he has his change of heart, I couldn't buy it. It also seemed to me improbable that just about everyone he interacts with speaks English. The Japanese commander speaks English. The young boy who helps the convent girls speaks English. The main convent girl speaks English. The Chinese dude collaborating with the Japs speaks English. Hell, even the main female prostitute, Yu Mo (played by the absolutely stunning Ni Ni) speaks English. Probably more I'm forgetting. I do realize that pre-Communist China, including prominent cities such as Nanking, had its share of westerners and western influence, but the scenario in the film with all these random English-speaking folks thrown together still seemed improbable to me.
And boy were the ladies dumb. It's hard to feel sorry for the two prostitutes who got raped/tortured/ killed in horrible fashion because their absolute stupidity put them in peril in the first place. Really, you're going to risk the marauding Jap soldiers in order to fetch a pair of earrings and some lute strings? They saw what the Japs were doing. Raping and shooting on sight. The streets they were running down were littered with bodies. Literally hundreds of bodies. And most probably did not have an easy death, given what the Japanese were doing to the citizens of Nanking. And later, another of the ladies comes out of hiding right to where she knows that the Japanese commanders and Miller are discussing terms--because she just had to fetch her kitty cat? Yes, what happened to these dumb ladies was beyond horrible, but they kindof brought it on themselves, which makes it harder to push the sympathy buttons.
And the ending is all set up for some edge of your seat tension and anxious moments as the group of girls (as well as the group of prostitutes) make for their respective exits. And...nothing. The Japanese guards are bought off with a case of wine and the girls get away. Well, that was exciting (not).
I’m not sure if this was by design, but Yu Mo is by far the most compelling figure in the story. Followed by the young boy and any number of the girls. Hell, even the Jap commander is more interesting than Bale’s character. I believe the film would have been more compelling if it focused more on the girls/women than on the westerner “lout turned heart of gold” who helped them.
Ok, I’ve spent all this time harshing on the movie, like I hated it or something. I actually liked it. But when you want to LOVE something, and it disappoints you, the flaws loom all that much larger.
According to the special features, this was the most expensive move ever made in China. Why? How? 90 percent of the movie takes place in a semi-abandoned church and a courtyard that is empty save for one broken down truck. Some bomb-blasted buildings and a few scenes of soldiers and tanks, and that’s it! Perhaps Christian Bale’s salary comprised most of the budget. But don’t tell me this movie cost more to make than, say Red Cliff. I ain’t buying it.
The Flowers of War (2011)
Directed by Yimou Zhang
Starring Christian Bale, Ni Ni, and a bunch of Chinese girls
In English, Mandarin, and Japanese, with English subtitles as appropriate
Film: 3 stars (out of 5)
Yimou Zhang has made movies that are beautiful, movies that are emotionally gut-punchingly effective, movies that are sweet, and movies that I easily put in my “top whatever” lists. I really really wanted to put The Flowers of War into any of the above categories, but for me it missed the mark. Certainly not a bad movie by any means, and it didn’t miss the mark by all that much, but the distractions kept me from fully enjoying it. Every time I wanted to allow myself to be moved, to really feel the emotional wallop, it slipped by me. For the most part I didn’t care all that much, as much as I wanted to.
The plot is compelling. A westerner, John Miller (played by Christian Bale) is working in 1937 Nanking during the early portion of the Japanese conquest. He finds himself, by a series of circumstances, lies, and misunderstandings, posing as a Catholic priest in a semi-abandoned church/school that houses a group of young Chinese teen girl students. A young teen boy tries to get them to a “refuge/safety zone” area but fails. They are desperately in need of adult assistance when Miller shows up. Unfortunately for the kids, his only intent is to pilfer the cashbox and whatever booze he can get his hands on. However, before he can sober up and be on his way, another group of women find the church and want to hide out there. This bunch is a group of prostitutes who had to flee their nearby brothel with nothing much more than the clothes on their back.
So we would seem to be set up for a powerful story. Will Miller have a moral awakening and help the girls and women? Will they survive? How will they escape the Japanese?
But so many things took me out of the movie. I totally get why a westerner plays the main role and have no problem with that. But Christian Bale's performance is so annoying (and dare I say, bad) during the first half of the movie, by the time he has his change of heart, I couldn't buy it. It also seemed to me improbable that just about everyone he interacts with speaks English. The Japanese commander speaks English. The young boy who helps the convent girls speaks English. The main convent girl speaks English. The Chinese dude collaborating with the Japs speaks English. Hell, even the main female prostitute, Yu Mo (played by the absolutely stunning Ni Ni) speaks English. Probably more I'm forgetting. I do realize that pre-Communist China, including prominent cities such as Nanking, had its share of westerners and western influence, but the scenario in the film with all these random English-speaking folks thrown together still seemed improbable to me.
And boy were the ladies dumb. It's hard to feel sorry for the two prostitutes who got raped/tortured/ killed in horrible fashion because their absolute stupidity put them in peril in the first place. Really, you're going to risk the marauding Jap soldiers in order to fetch a pair of earrings and some lute strings? They saw what the Japs were doing. Raping and shooting on sight. The streets they were running down were littered with bodies. Literally hundreds of bodies. And most probably did not have an easy death, given what the Japanese were doing to the citizens of Nanking. And later, another of the ladies comes out of hiding right to where she knows that the Japanese commanders and Miller are discussing terms--because she just had to fetch her kitty cat? Yes, what happened to these dumb ladies was beyond horrible, but they kindof brought it on themselves, which makes it harder to push the sympathy buttons.
And the ending is all set up for some edge of your seat tension and anxious moments as the group of girls (as well as the group of prostitutes) make for their respective exits. And...nothing. The Japanese guards are bought off with a case of wine and the girls get away. Well, that was exciting (not).
I’m not sure if this was by design, but Yu Mo is by far the most compelling figure in the story. Followed by the young boy and any number of the girls. Hell, even the Jap commander is more interesting than Bale’s character. I believe the film would have been more compelling if it focused more on the girls/women than on the westerner “lout turned heart of gold” who helped them.
Ok, I’ve spent all this time harshing on the movie, like I hated it or something. I actually liked it. But when you want to LOVE something, and it disappoints you, the flaws loom all that much larger.
According to the special features, this was the most expensive move ever made in China. Why? How? 90 percent of the movie takes place in a semi-abandoned church and a courtyard that is empty save for one broken down truck. Some bomb-blasted buildings and a few scenes of soldiers and tanks, and that’s it! Perhaps Christian Bale’s salary comprised most of the budget. But don’t tell me this movie cost more to make than, say Red Cliff. I ain’t buying it.
