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
