Unsurprisingly, Chinese cinema has tackled the horrors of the Rape of Nanking before, most recently in the harrowing but brilliant City of Life and Death, but the brutal Japanese occupation of 1937 was always likely to be a constant source of cinematic drama, whether these stories are historically accurate or fictitious. If anything it is a surprise that one of China’s most celebrated directors, Zhang Yimou, hadn’t tackled the subject before. In The Flowers of War, Yimou tells the story of an opportunistic Westerner who, posing as a priest, tries to lead a group of women to safety. It is a film that contains many of the director’s hallmarks - sumptuous visuals, heightened melodrama, a strong female focus and uneven…

I hadn't seen the trailers for this, read nothing, except seeing 4 out of 5 stars on the end of a review. So I was looking forward to seeing it, except it wasn't playing at my local cinemas! However it was in my local supermarket on DVD! So I bought it!

Now I really like Hero, House of Flying Daggers, two of my favourite films, by Yimou Zhang. I do own Curse of the Golden Flower and will watch that this week now. So again I had high hopes for this film.
Zhang shows his style again, the film is stunning to look at, the action sequences are fantastic. He also doesn't hold back showing the atrocities of war, and…

A good idea, a well intentioned film whose severe shortcomings hide behind so many layers of makeup and the imported gravity of simply being set during the Rape of Nanking.

Zhang Yimou's movie starts out aggressively mediocre, usually settling on the most rote, basically competent approach to doing all things. Every character is painted in extremely broad strokes, while Zhang has a decent eye for for detail, there is none for subtlety. Christian Bale is especially heavy-handed portraying a drunken lout whose literal whiteness can save a gaggle of schoolgirls. He's a man wearing the shoes of a likable rogue but the overcoat of an asshole, and his painfully inevitable heart-of-gold turn is as kitschy and plastic as the waving…

Režisora Jimou Žanga darbi ir iespaidīgi kā savā vizuālajā krāšņumā, tā arī vēstījumā. Gan Lidojošo dunču nams, gan Zelta zieda lāsts, gan Varonis ir obligātās skatāmvielas kategorijā. Šoreiz Žangs ķēries klāt Ķīniešiem sāpīgajai tēmai - Nanjingas slaktiņam, kad šo pilsētu 1937. japāņi burtiski pilnībā iznīcināja un tāpēc visu laiku gribās vilkt paralēles ar Čuana Lu 2009. gada filmu Dzīvības un nāves pilsēta, kas arī veltīta šai Ķīnas vēstures sadaļai. Atšķirībā no Lu melnbaltās kara drāmas Žanga filma ir vairāk holivudiska un uz meinstrīmu tēmēta, bet tas nenozīmē, ka mazāk efektīga.

Filmas centrālais tēls ir apglabātājs, amerikānis Džons Millers (šajā lomā Kristians Beils kuru rekomendēja Stīvens Spīlbergs), kurš ierodās kādā vietējā klosterī lai apglabātu mirušo mācītāju, taču atklājās, ka viņš ir…