Thread: The Flowers Of War -- Christian Bale & Zhang Yimou

Restart.

The film is an adaptation of a Chinese-language novel by contemporary writer Yan Geling about 13 sex workers in Nanjing who volunteered to replace university students as escorts for invading Japanese soldiers. In the novel, the American priest leads a church that shelters prostitutes and young female students during the invasion.

First Images of Christian Bale in 'Nanjing Heroes' Emerge Online - Yidio The Dark Knight Rises News





The Associated Press: Director lauds Christian Bale for China film work

"An A-list Hollywood actor traveling alone to an alien country and an alien set, working and living for several months with several hundred foreigners he doesn't know well — that is very incredible and very impressive to me," Zhang was quoted as saying.

The director best known in the West for "Raise the Red Lantern" and "To Live" called Bale a generous performer.

"When I asked him for a certain kind of performance, he gave me three approaches. When I asked for three approaches, he gave me five," he said. "He always wanted to give me more, so I have a wider range of choices. His professionalism often touched me. He is a great role model for Chinese actors."

And the other pictures released to this point:












Also:

The film is slated for release at movie theaters in China and North America in December.

"Heroes of Nanking" Releases Hand-painting



Don't see a bigger version on the site anywhere...

How Christian Bale Is Raising the Bar in China - The Hollywood Reporter

"Heroes of Nanking" Wraps Shooting in Nanjing

Zhang Yimou’s WWII Film With Christian Bale Retitled ‘The Flowers of War’

The film will be released in China on December 16, and the hope is to release it at more or less the same time in the US and other countries. But distribution has to be set up first.

We’ve known that Liu Heng‘s script is based on a historical novel by Yan Geling, and is about 40% English dialogue and 60% Mandarin. The film is China’s most expensive ever produced, with some big battle sequences as part of the story about the infamous 1937 incident called the Nanjing Massacre, or the Rape of Nanking, in which Japanese soldiers killed hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians and soldiers, and raped thousands of women after the capture of the city of Nanjing.

The LA Times is enthusiastic about the footage shown today, saying “the film’s battle sequences unfold in a manner both grotesque and beautiful, like a live-action hand-colored postcard of war.”

Zhang Yimou’s ‘The Flowers Of War’ Starring Christian Bale Is China’s Official Oscar Entry > The Playlist

Christian Bale in The Flowers of War Trailer



I am SO ****ing ready for this.

Zhang Yimous Flowers of War set for Oscar-qualifying run - HitFix.com

Yesterday’s announcement that Wrekin Hill Entertainment, in association with Row 1 Productions, picked up the North American rights for the war epic starring Christian Bale and Shigeo Kobayashi means that the film will be vying for a larger presence at the Academy Awards. It is set to open wide in China on December 16th followed by an Oscar-qualifying run in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco beginning in late December.

Something tells me we're not going to find out where it's screening until it's too late...