Simon Dillon reviews this haunting and powerful film

The notorious Japanese incursion into Nanking in 1937 (which came to be known as the rape of Nanking) has been covered in many films and documentaries - including City of Life and Death and Nanking. This latest addition from renowned Chinese director Zhang Yimou is cut from the same cloth as Hotel Rwanda or Schindler's List, centring on Western mortician John Miller (Christian Bale), who ends up posing as a Catholic priest in order to protect a group of convent girls and prostitutes in a church.

Bale is on excellent form, and has fine support from the rest of the cast, including Ni Ni (as Yu Mo, a prostitute Miller gradually falls in love with), and Xinyi Zhang (as Shu, who becomes a leader of sorts amongst the other convent girls). Yimou eschews the pristine, impossibly beautiful vistas of Hero and House of Flying Daggers for something a bit grittier. In that respect he borrows from the Saving Private Ryan school of filmmaking whilst also leaving his own unique stamp on the film, at times recalling his earlier masterpiece Raise the Red Lantern. On a technical level the film features many other outstanding merits, with Qigang Chen's haunting music score worth a special mention.

This is apparently based on real events, though how closely I have no idea. Regardless of how true it is to the facts, The Flowers of War is a riveting piece of work - even if Bale's predictable transition from selfish opportunist to courageous protector seems to happen a little too quickly. There are many gripping moments, including a superb sequence involving a monumentally brave Chinese soldier, who despite being alone and massively outnumbered decides to make a last stand to defend the church from a group of Japanese intent on raping the convent girls.

The most interesting angle from a spiritual perspective involves the gradual shift in the relationship between the prostitutes and the convent girls. At first Shu opposes Miller's decision to give the prostitutes shelter, and there is open hostility between the two factions of women. However, as the film unfolds, and both groups suffer atrocities (which I should add are shocking and brutal but completely in context and very restrained considering what could have been shown), a mutual respect and sisterly bond develops. This ultimately leads to an act of supreme sacrifice that is deeply, deeply moving.

Whilst it isn't in the same league as Schindler's List, The Flowers of War is nevertheless a haunting and powerful piece of work that I highly recommend in spite of its flaws.