Zhang Yimou stirred controversies with Hero (2002) by leaving the suggestive connotation that the brutal ruler Emperor Qin is the hero in the film. There are viewers and critics who see Zhang as making a fascist statement as the warriors in the film do not kill Emperor Qin eventually, for the sake of peace. Film critic French (2004) points out that Hero "seems to be taking a strongly nationalist line and to be asserting that the people should put their trust in men of great power and be prepared to suffer and make sacrifices" for the ruler in power (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2004/sep/26/philipfrench).
Flowers of War (2011) is set in 1937, Nanjing (China) during the time of the second Sino-Japanese War, which is also known as the "Rape of Nanjing". In the film, the Nanjing prostitutes who turn themselves in to the Japanese soldiers on behalf of the teenage convent girls are made heroes of the film. It seems like Zhang has the tendency to create characters that are least expected to fall into the category of "hero" as heroes.
Well, the prostitutes are not that righteous in the beginning of the film. They are a group of flamboyant ladies who forced themselves into the cathedral which is supposedly well sheltered from the war as it is headed by an American. They form a mini community at the basement of the cathedral and entertain themselves with their little games, music and chats. The convent girls despise the prostitutes whom they view as "dirty". However, as they know that the girls are called to entertain the Japanese soldiers at a party, they decide to replace these girls and go for the party instead. Yu Mo (played by Ni Ni), the leader of the group of prostitutes, says, "I was raped by my step father when I was 13 years old. By their age [convent girls], I was already forced to take my first clients. I don't want them to go through that". She succeeds in convincing the other ladies to go and meet the Japanese soldiers on behalf of the girls by telling them that that they are skilled at handling different types of men, and that they should help to protect the girls' innocence and chastity. Yu Mo assures the ladies that this is one great accomplishment that they can do, as prostitutes.
Paradoxes of the film can be seen from the "greyness" in Zhang's portrayal of the themes of holiness and lust; good and evil; humanity and self-gain; love and war; warmth and brutality; beauty and horror. Nothing is painted in the starkness of black and white. In the film, he makes the cold-faced Japanese Colonel sing a childhood folk song; he depicts the vain prostitutes who cut their hair and dress in dull uniforms in order to save the teenage girls; he portrays an American (played by Christian Bale) who initially wants to steal from the cathedral, but poses as a priest eventually in order to protect the lives of those in the cathedral.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie- from the juxtaposition of the soothing Christian hymns and the deafening sounds of war, to the constant shifts between self-interest and self-sacrifice. The themes of love, humanity, lust, religion, arts and respect are well framed within the brutality of war.
Rating: 8.5/10
The title of this movie,"Flowers of war" gives me the impressions of the beauty of flower and the bloodshed of war...Its the irony of beauty and ugly...even though both are red.....
ReplyDeleteI was a little late, but I can still understand the whole movie as this is kindof a narrative story, unlike his past works which uses flashbacks...but this is a moving story.
Therre are some beautifully crafted bombs, which when exploded, colourful scrapes dispersed, which seems to represent the unfulfilled dreams, or dreams no longer able to fulfill due to war.
There is this fake pastor, a thief that steals from the cathedral, then tries to rape a woman, but he eventually became someone respectable as he helped the girls in the cathedral,prevent them from jumping off the tower, his firm 'NO' to the girls attending the party, plans to escape...
The girls who were students and they despise the prostitutes until when they got into trouble and the women helped them out...
A woman(prostitute) who went all the way out despite danger, to look for a 'pipa xuan' for a dying friend.
The woman(prostitutes) who volunteers to go to the party in order to save the girls.Even though they are prostitutes, they treasure their chastity equal to that of the students. Their spirits were high when they keepsake the broken mirror pieses under their uniforms to kill the japanese...
Not forgetting the little boy who volunteers to go as well to make up the number. His wanting to go, to save the girls...so strong...
Also a girl's father that tries so hard to save his daughter even to the extent of working for the japanese,but if without him, the escape wouldnt be successful...I actually felt kind of relieved when he was shot dead because he might have said stupid things and the whole plan would be broken...
Situation creates heroes...
The fake pastor is a hero created by the situation. But situation alone does not made him anything, it is his inner belief in righteous that made him a real hero.
So are the prostitutes and the little boy...
Actually, every character in this story is a flower...but the war tore them apart, just like the rippling of the clothes of the students in the beginning...
The story closes in colourful window panes of lost hopes...Again, its an irony.
I like this movie!!!!directed by Zhang Yimou.
I really like your observation on the notion of "hero" in this film. Circumstances create heroes. The unorthodox meaning of hero was created in Hero (2002) and now the paradoxical notion of hero is seen in Flowers of War (2011). A thief, a cruel man and the prostitutes have all become heroes under Zhang's creation.
DeleteCircumstances can lead one to commit sin, but circumstances can also lead one to goodness. It's not up to us to judge anyone else. This reminds me of a verse in bible- "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her (the adulteress) first".
And yes, this movie is filled with powerful symbols and irony!