Tim Nasson, publisher of Wild About Movies, was the only U.S. movie critic to attend the Shanghai premiere of The Flowers Of War on December 16, 2011.
The Flowers Of War opened for a one-week Oscar qualifying run in Los Angeles and NYC at the end of 2011.
Starring Christian Bale, (Oscar winner for The Fighter), The Flowers Of War tells the story of the Nanking war of 1937.
Christian Bale, (who starred in Steven Spielberg’s war movie Empire Of The Sun, also filmed partly in China, as a child, in 1986), plays a mortician who doubles as a Catholic priest.
Durning the Japanese invasion of the Chinese town of Nanjing in 1937 (a true story) where the Red Cross and Catholic missionaries have built a school for girls, Christian Bale’s character arrives. Thirteen female students, all preteens, hide out in the basement of the school, as Christian Bale, the only living American left at the property, tries to protect them – and a dozen Chinese hookers who just happen upon the place during their attempt to escape the war-torn city.
What transpires for the next two hours is cinematic beauty – and horror – from genius Chinese director Zhang Yimou, best known for the early 1990s movies Ju Do, Raise The Red Lantern and The Story Of Qiu Ju, as well as the 2004 movie The House Of Flying Daggers.
During its first three weeks of theatrical release in China, The Flowers Of War raked in more than $90 million (U.S.). An amazing feat for a movie release in China, as ticket prices average as much or more than movie tickets in America, yet the pay scale is much lower. And there are over 2 billion people in China, compared to just over 300 million in the U.S, where a movie can open with more than $100 million in just its first three days.
The minimum wage in China averages $200 U.S. per month.The middle class Chinese earn about the equivalent of $800-$1000 per month in U.S. currency.
Photos by Tim Nasson
