The Flowers of War

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Title: The Flowers of War

Director: Yimou Zhang
Released: 2012
Starring: Christian Bale, Huang Tianyuan, Ni Ni, Tong Dawei, Atsuro Watabe

 

Plot: Based on the book “13 Flowers of Nanjing” by Geling Yan and set during the 1937 invasion of Nanking, China by the Japanese army were mortician John (Bale) arrives at a Catholic church to prepare the church's priest for burial.  However upon arriving at the church he finds himself the sole adult amongst the young Covent girls who are soon joined by the prostitutes from the nearby brothel claiming sanctuary. Now he finds himself in the unwanted position of protecting the girls by pretending to be resident priest.

 

 

Review: I’m sure I’m probably alone when I say that for myself Christian Bale’s most interesting films have always been his less mainstream ones, with films such as “The Machinist” and “Harsh Times” only being further evidence of this and while everyone is still pretty much cooing over his performance as the dark knight, it has meant that this film, another of less mainstream projects has once again slipped under the radar.

 
Directed by Yimou Zhang who is probably best known for his Hero trilogy (Hero, House of Flying Daggers, Curse of the Golden Flower) whose popularity only makes it all the more surprising that this film did not get better distribution, especially with Bale in the lead, which also makes it only the second fully Chinese-funded film to have a Hollywood star in the lead (the first being the Kevin Spacey headed “Inseperable”) aswell as also having the honour of being the most expensive. Still considering the subject matter it hardly makes for the most fun viewing, while reminding us of a frequently less remembered time in history, were the atrocities being committed by the invading Japanese were easily comparable to those of their Nazi counterparts.
 
Needless to say Director Zhang does not ease his audience into the situation currently happening, as he shows John stumbling through the corpse strewn streets, dodging stray gunfire from the invading Japanese soldiers hunting down the last of the Chinese soldiers still trying vainly to defend the city. Picking up two of the terrified convent girls he his lead back to the church, which has been left in the wake of the priests death to be defended by the teenage George (Tianyuan), whose attempts to stop the local prostitutes also moving into the church basement are made in vain, especially when they are lead by the fiesty Yu Mo (Ni Ni). It is within this opening half hour which Zhang paints a city now largely abandoned apart from the invading Japanese army and this mixed group seeking refuge within the walls of the church and he makes no qualms about showing the real horror of war, via some truly kinetic battle scenes and especially from the perspective of a Major Li (Dawei) who is soon left the long solider and unofficial protector of the girls before his sudden and surprising removal from the film, but only furthering the harsh realistic view point Zhang has chosen for this film in what is a noticeable departure from his artistic styling’s and use of key colours which made his previous films so memorable, though despite this he still manages to find time for the occasional flourish such as the shots of shattering stained glass, which often sit awkwardly amongst the scenes of vile human atrocity being committed alongside.
 
Despite being ultimately the saviour for the two very different groups of girls, Bale’s character is far from a shining example of sainthood, for when he is first introduced he is shown as a drunk, more concerned with drinking communion wine and plundering any funds contained within the church, than showing any concern for anyone else. However it is only after the attempted gang rape of the Covent girls by an out of control platoon of Japanese soldiers that he soon finds his moral backbone, while continuing to portray the church priest, in order to invoke an uneasy arrangement with Japanese Colonel Hasegawa (Watabe) to keep the church free from invasion by his troops by posting an armed guard outside the church.
 
Switching the focus throughout Zhang paints as full a (if admittedly one sided) picture as possible of this group and their view points on the situation, especially as it brings them together to form a mismatched family, especially as some are forced to make hard choices come the end of the film, which will certainly tug on the emotions of even the most stone hearted amongst you. However despite having more than its share of emotional moments and a unquestionable atmosphere of sheer terror throughout, it is hard to ignore the length run time, which does at times feel as if it could have been trimmed down in places, without sacrificing the heart of the story. Equally frustrating is the fact that it often feels like many of the cast are speaking in forced whispers with Bales especially being a prime offender of this, despite giving another truly believable antihero performance.
 
Ultimately this film is a mixed experience for while it contains many moments of real emotion and unflinchingly shows the invasion of Nanking for what it was, while equally let down in this respect for not showing the Japanese from any view point other than from the Chinese standpoint, leaving us with no explanation or understanding of their behavior. However despite this it still remains one the better dramas about this particularly troubling chapter of history and for that fact alone it is worth watching, if only to remind us of the evil war brings out in those caught in the conflict, while ensuring that it’s never forgotten.

 

B Is For Brotherhood: Taegukgi

Title: Brotherhood: Taegukgi
Director: Je-gyu Kang
Released: 2004
Staring: Dong-gun Jang, Bin Won, Min-ho Jang, Eun-ju Lee, Yeong-ran Lee

Plot: In 1950's South Korea, shoe-shiner Jin-tae Lee (Don-gun Jang) and his 18-year-old old student brother Jin-seok Lee (Bin Won), live with their mother, Jin-tae's fiancé Young-shin Kim, and his young sisters. Jin-tae and his mother sacrifice themselves working long hours to send Jin-seok to the university, but when North Korea invades the South the family are forced to escape to a relative's house in the country. Through this journey Jin-seok is forced to join the army, while Jin-tae also enlists wanting to protect his young brother. After discovering that if he is awarded a medal of honour that, he can arrange for the release of his brother, though as the war continues the relationship between the two brothers begins to deteriorate, as Jin-tae only becomes more driven towards wining his brother’s freedom.

Review: It seems that nearly every major conflict has that one film, which isn’t just a boys own adventure or a political statement, but instead has been made so that we might have an idea, what those involved actually went through. World War 2 has Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan”, Vietnam has Oliver Stone’s “Platoon” and the Korean war thankfully has this film, which I have frequently referred to in the past when recommending it as being the Korean Saving Private Ryan, though even with this clumsy tag, it still doesn’t feel like I am truly doing this film justice, especially when you consider it is one of the most expensive movies made by a Korean Studio, despite the fact it’s 12.8 million dollar budgets pales in comparison to what is typically spent in the Hollywood Studio system, yet to spend this much on a film was unheard of at the time of the films original release and the sole reason it was financed, was thanks largely to the success of Kang’s previous film “Shiri” (1999) which was also the first of the big budget Korean productions, while also proving at the same time that Kang was a director capable of holding his own against some of the bigger names in the Hollywood studio system, especially when given a significant budget to aid him, while this film only furthers his reputation as director, though sadly the gap between this film and any new project has been a painfully long wait, with only the currently in development “My Way” being his only recent activity.

Still it’s hard not to compare this film to “Saving Private Ryan” especially when they have such similar openings with the elderly former solider visiting a memorial site, though Kang at least gives us a chance to get to know the brothers before throwing us straight into the conflict, unlike Spielberg’s memorable dive straight into the D-Day landings. Infact “Brotherhood” is a lot more subtle on this front, saving the true horrors of the trench warfare and claustrophobic cityscapes that the battles are waged in, until the brothers are unwilling drafted and it’s from this moment that we rarely given a break from the dirty and frequently under equipped conditions of the front line, as he builds up to the epic conclusion, which for myself truly captured the blood and snot style of combat which, made up the majority of battles fought in this war, giving the viewer a true sense of what it must have been like to have fought in such wrenched conditions, as countrymen from the north and south of Korea were forced to fight each other in a war based purely on political beliefs.

Like Spielberg and Stone, Kang is not afraid to show the truly horrific side of war, as limbs are frequently blown off in explosions of dirt and mud, as soldiers encounter ambushes and booby traps, leaving you with the impression that any character could die at anytime, while scenes in a field hospital prove especially chilling, when the incompetence of the field medics leaving one wounded solider with a festering, maggot covered stomach wound.
Still the power of these scenes are not cheapened by the soundtrack which despite the film having a fantastic classical score, only adds to key scenes and never becomes threatening enough to overpower the images being shown and giving the audience cues for what they should be feeling at that exact moment, with Kang preferring to let the drama tell the story and leave the audience to their own emotions and it’s a technique used to devastating effect here.
However the trump card Kang has here is clearly with Dong-gun Jang, whose performance here is highly reminisant of the early films of Chow Yun-fat, especially with the levels of charisma and confidence he brings to the role, while truly helping to sell the father like role Jin-tae has taken upon himself, going far beyond being a protective brother, as he is shown being willing to do anything, to ensure that his brother can reach his full potential, all the more clearly shown as he signs up for increasingly suicidal missions, seeking the medal of honour so that he might get his brother off the frontline, even though he has no love for any aspect of the war going on around him. Still I’m sure that if it wasn’t thanks to Jang’s performance here, the film would have none of its emotional power, let alone the believability of the relationship between the two brothers, even as it deteriorates under the battlefield pressures, especially as their own personal beliefs comes constantly under attack, by the things they witness and such is the emotional power of this film, which Kang has managed to capture here, by the time the credits have rolled only the most stony hearted will fail to find themselves moved by what they have just watched.

"Brotherhood: Taegukgi" is a powerful and important film, not only in the respect of Korean cinema but war films on a whole, as it not only gives the viewer a true insight into the harsh realities of war, but also looks at how it changes those involved. In many ways I would place this in a higher respect than "Saving Private Ryan" even though both set out to create a similar viewing experience, but for those of you who like your War films with more of a human element I'd strongly recommend this film.

Casablanca Express

Title: Casablanca Express
Director: Sergio Martino

Released: 1989

Staring: Jason Connery, Francesco Quinn, Jinny Steffan, Manfred Lehmann, Jean Sorel, Donald Pleasence, Glenn Ford, John Evans

Rating: 2/ 5

Plot: In 1942 top commando Alan Cooper (Connery) is assigned to protect Winston Churchill (Evans), when a Nazi plot to kidnap him is discovered.

Review: Casablanca Express is really the blue print for how to make a film with major compromises, I mean if you can’t find any big named actors to play your leads? Why not just draft in their lesser known actor kids. Can’t afford a rousing orchestra score? Well who needs an orchestra when you have the mood setting sound of Synthesisers!! These really are just two of the money cutting costs which Martino incorporates into this film, which you kind of have to admire the balls on Martino and his directing choices, especially when you look at what he believes the audience would find belivable as a Winston Churchill clone, which it seems he too might have also had doubts about, seeing how he tends to shoot Evans either at distance or from behind.

The Italian war movie genre, is probably one of the least looked at genres when it comes to Italian cinema, especially with most cinema obsessive’s usually either concentrating on the Horror and Western genres, especially with both genres being home to more than a few notable directors such as Sergio Leone, Mario Brava, Lucio Fulci and Dario Argento aswell as Martino himself is probably best remembered thanks to the horror genre, in particular for “Mountain of the Cannibal God” (1978).

Strangely enough if you haven’t guessed already film isn’t a prime example of an Italian warm movie, unlike the grind house charm of Castellari’s “The Inglorious Bastards” (1978) which provided the inspiration for Tarantino’s own “Inglorious Basterds” (2009)

“Casablanca Express” it would seem, likes to view itself as a boy’s own adventure, with it’s quick pace and action scenes all being similar to that of war movies, like “The Dirty Dozen” (1967), especially when you look at minmal amount of humanization used for the Nazi characters, who are basically there to play the bad guys and provide target practice for our hero’s.

Connery’s its clear would have really liked to have been his dad and in this film, tries to play the character of Cooper with the same sort of boyish charm as Bond, which really doesn’t work overly well as you never once believe that he is ever in control of any situation he encounters, most of which ending with him surviving through blind luck more than any skill, a prime example of which being during of the early fights when he is ambushed by several bad guys, only to be saved at the last moment by Francesco Quinn’s American agent.

Connery with his well spoken British accent, constantly plays off British stereotypes, something which is also carried onto nearly every other character in the film, including an extremely cringe worthy moment, when one of the passengers, who is supposed to be a British officer complains to one of the station staff about, how they almost damaged his tea set! Thankfully most of these caricatures are killed off pretty swiftly when the train is hijacked by the Nazi’s, which raises more of a cheer than anything else. While on the subject of stereotypes it was kind of surprising to see that this was an Italian film, especially seeing how the American forces are basically the ones who are doing everything, even to the point at the finale where they are riding in on a train with a huge American flag flying, as they save the world once again from the Nazi threat. It kind of surprised me, even more when I discovered that it wasn’t an American film, which made me wonder even more so why Martino choose to portray the war in such an unbalance view, especially when it’s the British prime minister being kidnapped and all we send to save him is a bad James Bond clone!! Still I guess this could be to make up for the fact that the American Agent played here, by an equally uncharismatic Francesco Quinn has his character reduced even further, to the point were he becomes a mere bullet magnet, which might have been intended as a heroic death, but instead comes off more as a relief to the audience, that it is one less crappy actor we have to endure.
Seeing how Martino raided the Children of the stars academy for his main leads, it’s surprising that he chooses to keep the small amount of star power he does have in his cast, with Donald Pleasence and Glenn Ford relegated to supporting roles and spending the majority of the film, moving blocks across a large map, which is a shame as these are some of the best moments of the film and that’s again largely because we aren’t having to suffer Connery’s acting. Still for these brief moments that they appear in the film, they still manage to make the most of their roles and pull them off convincingly enough; even if you get the feeling that they could give the same performance in their sleep.
The Soundtrack as I mentioned at the beginning of this review is synthesiser heavy and I mean really heavy, seeing how every piece of music in this film comes from a synthesiser, which especially makes the seem a lot more dated than it is and certainly fails even on the basic levels to provide the intended mood, as every time the music kicks in it, draws your attention away from what is happening on the screen, pulling you out of the film watching experience and preventing you from immersing` yourself in the world which the film is set in.

“Casablanca Express” like so many of Martino’s other films is a light hearted film, which never really lives up to any potential it might have had, allowing itself to get bogged down with it’s numerous flaws, with only a handful of exciting moments, which are too few and far between, to really keep the viewers attention, especially when there are similar boy’s own adventures to be found, which do the genre better and only worth watching if you’ve seriously run out of things to watch or are a Martino completist.

9th Company

Title: 9th Company
Director: Fyodor Bonarchuk

Released: 2005

Staring: Fydor Bondarchuk, Aleksey Chadov, Mikhail Yevlanov, Mikhail Yevlanov, Ivan Kokorin, Artyom Mikhalkov, Konstantin Kryukov, Artur Smolyaninov, Mikhail Porechenkov

Rating: 4 / 5

Plot: Based on the true story of the 9th company, during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980’s, as the young recuits go from boot camp to finally defending hill 3234.

Review: What is it about Russian cinema, which makes it so that nearly every film they make slips under the movie loving masses radar outside of its home country?? I mean personally I can only really name a handful of Russian films and they are all established classics such as “Man with the movie camera” (1929), Battleship Potemkin (1925) and the Night Watch films, so it’s safe to say that this film was another of those films which would have slipped under the radar aswell, had I not stumbled across it on DVD and I’m so glad that I did as“9th Company” is not a film setting out to make a political statement on war, which it seems has become the current trend, for the genre with films such as “Redacted” (2007) nor is it a glorification of war, the kind of boys own adventure films like “The Dirty Dozen” (1967), that featured through out my childhood, but instead it is a film showing war for what it is and paying respect to those who fought in the conflict, so that future generations might have atleast some idea of what they went through and it’s an style best remembered with Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan” (1998) which was ultimately bettered by Je-gyu Kang’s “Brotherhood” (2004) and here once again it is a style which is used once more to powerful effect.

Opening with the raw recruits being drafted into boot camp, I couldn’t help but think of Kubric’s “Full Metal Jacket” (1987) which is best remembered for it’s equally brutal boot camp scenes, but it’s safe to say that as daunting and mean as R. Lee Ermey was as Gunnery Sgt. Hartman, he pales when compared to the training regime of Dygalo (Porechenkov) who is might not be as loud as Hartman, but he none the less brutal if not more, with his methods of training the raw recruits, as he rules his regiment of recuits with an iron fist, more than happy to lash out and even on occasion whip them with his belt, with his favourite game to play with them, being to fill their packs with rocks, before forcing them to scramble up a steep hill were another squad awaits to push them back down. This sadistic and bitter streak we are lead to believe coming directly from, his experiences in the field, were he was the sole survivor of his squad, something which it is also hinted at having left him more than a little mentally unstable, especially when combined with his continued rejections, to his applications to be sent back out to fight, with one such memorable scene showing him crying in a field of poppies, which also provides a great metaphor for the friends he has lost to this conflict.
As with “Full Metal Jacket” these boot camp scenes form a large part of the film, accounting for almost half of the running time, but it’s these experiences which the recruits go through together which bonds them closer together, a bond which they carry with them even into the War zone, despite being separated their bond is still as strong when they are later reunited, making them more like brothers than friends, even to the point were they are willing to share the affections of the local girl Belosnezkka (Irina Rakhmanovoa), who they frequently refer to as Snow White.
Some viewers might not like the fact that none of the characters can be classed as the lead, especially with Bonarchuk spending an equal amount of time with each of the characters, preferring to view them as a unit, rather than a group of individuals, which also makes it all the harder to know which of them will be living long enough to see the end of the conflict, as Bonarchuk fearlessly kills off characters, with the climatic battle for hill 3234, being especially noteworthy as I felt like I was living through the final episode of “Space Above and Beyond” again, as I watched characters that I genuinely cared about being killed in front with little or no mercy, as they attempt to hold back the seemingly endless tide of Afghan rebels, to the point were I was almost certain that this film wasn’t going to end well. It is also worth noting that Bonarchuk has also chosen not to make a statement, with this film as to which side was in the wrong with the conflict, outside of the characters comments in regards to the failings of their government, while also including scenes which show the recruits, being lectured on the motives and beliefs of their enemy, something which is almost unseen within the genre, outside of the usually misguided and stereotypical views which characters will tend to carry with them, as their justification, for what they are doing.
Great effort it appears has been taken to help draw the viewer into the world of this particular conflict, not only with the military hardware on display, but also with the attention to detail in their surroundings and uniforms, which only help suck you further in, while unlike the previously mentioned “Brotherhood” and “Saving Private Ryan” the grim reality of war has been toned down, though not so far as to show how dirty and violent the conflict was, but instead losing the voyeuristic scenes of lost limbs and arterial sprays, though skilfully managing to not lose any of the required power of what you are witnessing, especially during the climatic battle, which at one point turns into a real blood and snot style battle, as the battle suddenly becomes a lot more personal, as it breaks down to hand to hand combat, as the Soviet forces desperately attempt to hold their position.

The downside sadly to this film though is the running time, which left me thinking that it could have easy had, some time shaven off as in it’s present state it feels slightly bloated in places, especially in the middle sections, were at times it feels like the same points are continuously being looped and that the film is failing to gain any ground, as it dwells on uninteresting scenes which seems all to similar to earlier ones.

“9th Company” proves once more that Russian cinema is still producing memorable, as well as moving films and that it is also more of a shame that more of it’s film output is not being seen. In the meantime Bonarchuk has created a film worthy of standing with the already established classics of the war genre and is a film that I can only highly recommend to fans of the genre.