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The Flowers of War
Directed by
Zhang Yimou
R
2011
2h 22m
Drama
,
History
,
and more
7.5
41%
74%
Watch Free
An American finds refuge during the 1937 Japanese invasion of Nanking in a church with a group of women. Posing as a priest, he attempts to lead the women to safety.
More
Cast of The Flowers of War
Christian Bale
John Miller
Ni Ni
Yu Mo
Tong Dawei
Major Li
Zhang Xinyi
Shujuan Meng
Shigeo Kobayashi
Lt. Kato
Atsuro Watabe
Colonel Hasegawa
Shawn Dou
Chinese Soldier
Paul Schneider
Terry
Cao Kefan
Mr. Meng
Huang Tianyuan
George Chen
Han Xiting
Yi
Zhang Doudou
Ling
Yuan Yangchunzi
Mosquito
Takashi Yamanaka
Lt. Asakura
Huang Haibo
Peng
Su Xiaomei
Woman of the Qin Huai River
Atsuji Matsuda
Japanese Soldier
Sun Jia
Fat Chunhua
Li Yuemin
Dou Kou
Qi Dao
Soldier
Zhang Yimou
Director
Liu Heng
Writer
Yan Geling
Writer
Zhang Weiping
Producer
The Flowers of War Ratings & Reviews
Lora Clark
March 19, 2025
THIS WAS A VERY BEAUTIFUL MOVIE SAD BEAUTIFUL I LOVE HISTORICAL PERIOD PIECES I LOVE CHRISTIAN BALE ALL THE ASIAN WOMEN THAT WERE IN THIS MOVIE WERE SO GOOD I WATCHED IT LIKE THIS IS MY THIRD TIME WATCHING THIS MOVIE IT'S A GO-TO MOVIE I LOVE ALL THE BEAUTIFUL DRESSES IT WAS JUST A WELL-WRITTEN MOVIE AND IT KEEPS YOUR ATTENTION ALL THE WAY THROUGH CHRISTIAN BALE WAS AWESOME
Arizona Republic
Richard Nilsen
"The Flowers of War" seems like a pretty good film until you begin to think about it.
Reel Film Reviews
David Nusair
...the movie's less-than-engrossing atmosphere [is] compounded by its stagy and distressingly uneventful midsection...
Times-Picayune
Mike Scott
There's no need for overstatement here, no need to inject this story with melodrama, no need to try to make it more than it is. Unfortunately - and frustratingly - Zhang Yimou didn't recognize that.
Monsters and Critics
Ron Wilkinson
A pale rehashing of one of the most disgraceful war crimes in modern history.
SSG Syndicate
Susan Granger
Visually stunning, it's an epic saga of survival and redemption.
BrianOrndorf.com
Brian Orndorf
Try as he might to mold this woeful story into something momentous, Zhang turns the picture into punishment, ruining such extraordinary displays of bravery and fortitude with pounding aggression.
Sacramento News & Review
Jim Lane
... too long and slow, ... but it's beautifully photographed and performances are excellent ...
Boston Globe
Wesley Morris
All Zhang's splendor does is foster cognitive dissonance in an audience.
Philadelphia Inquirer
Gary Thompson
A strange hybrid of "City of Life and Death" and "Father Goose" that nevertheless, in the hands of Zhang Yimou, musters a few striking moments.
Movieline
Alison Willmore
While it's as blunt as any typical big-budget war epic would be, the film finds plenty of moments in which Zhang's skill as a filmmaker and his deft handling and interest in female characters shines...
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
A third of a million may be dead, but for our purposes, all depends on the survival of these young women, and the redemption of the alcoholic American. Do you get my drift?
AV Club
Tasha Robinson
Many of Flowers' individual performances and scenes are striking and masterful, but taken as a whole, it's less a film than a rallying cry of "Our people feel more deeply than yours."
Observer
Rex Reed
I can't get it out of my thoughts, and I recommend it highly.
Los Angeles Times
Sheri Linden
"Flowers" abounds with well-worn movie archetypes and slathers on schmaltz.
San Francisco Chronicle
Walter V. Addiego
Affecting at times, but finally feels overblown and heavy-handed.
New York Daily News
Elizabeth Weitzman
[Yimou] turns the Rape of Nanking into a visually stunning melodrama. But the effect of such extreme contrast is unsettling to say the least.
New York Post
V.A. Musetto
Battle scenes are spectacular - great explosions! - but most of the screen time is taken up by a contrived and schmaltzy script with little emotional punch.
Village Voice
Tim Grierson
Human suffering reduced to visual showmanship.
New York Times
Mike Hale
Zhang Yimou revisits the Nanjing massacre of 1937 by making something resembling a backstage musical, with breaks for the occasional ghastly murder or rape.
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