Movie: The Flowers of War
Director: Yimou Zhang
Rating: ***1/2
The repercussion of any bloody war largely affects the civilians but not the soldiers of the participating countries. Some are killed in the crossfire while the others are killed sadistically for pleasure. Now, picture a warzone, the bloodiest of all, where every nook and corner smells of desiccated blood and bodies literally torn in to pieces. What if someone planted few flowers in this battlefield? What are the chances that these flowers may not get stamped upon or crushed by the soldiers the minute they’re spotted? In short, ‘The Flowers of War’ is the story of few flowers (young virgin girls) heroically saved from the clutches of Japs by a mortician-turned-priest and a group of prostitutes.
In 1937 China, the Japs took over the province of Yanking in the second Sino-Japanese war, wiping clean off every last soldier of the Chinese army. A mortician (Bale) is summoned to perform the burial ceremony of ‘Father Ingelmann’ of the Catholic Church in Nanjing. At the church, Bale should protect the lives of a dozen young virgins with the help of a handful of prostitutes, before the Japs come looking for the girls. Bale aka John Miller is left with no option but to turn in to the church’s priest and help the girls sneak out of Nanjing without being spotted by the Japs. Will John succeed in moving the girls out of Nanjing forms the climax?
Although all war films revolve around the horrors of a battle, they also have something different to say each time. For example; Spielberg’s ‘Saving Private Ryan’ spoke greatly of patriotism while films such as ‘Platoon’ and ‘Tigerland’ brought forth the war within the soldiers and “The Brotherhood of War’ showed us the loyalty of two brothers towards their family who were forced to fight the Korean War. In all these films, war was only used as a backdrop to narrate a diverse but compelling story.
According to the film, bravery in war need not necessarily mean fighting with guns and grenades; it also means taking a courageous step to protect the lives of many. John and the prostitutes show similar attitude in the film by risking their lives, showing incessant courage, to save the girls. Also, brilliantly addressed in the film is the myth – whores are heartless, which according to the director is completely wrong. The tramps in the film are portrayed in such a way to highlight the fact that bravery has nothing to do gender. In life and death situation, there’s no concept called strong or weak sex; what matters is who is courageous enough to stand up and fight and protect a life or two.
Christian Bale shines in a role you may not have seen in the past. His transformation from a mortician to priest comes as no surprise and he makes his character stand out with his vulnerability. The characterization works excellently for the film and you’d vouch for it the minute credits roll down the screen. How could you possibly connect a mortician, bunch of young girls and a group of prostitutes together to form the crux of the story? Well, that’s the brilliance of writer Heng Liu, who connects these characters so well that you can’t find a single reason to complain.
In essence; what’s more important in a war – killing or saving lives? If you think you know the answer to this question then you’ve understood the purpose of this film.