Though it doesn’t yet have overseas distribution, Zhang Yimou’s latest, war epic The Flowers Of War, is already being entered by China as its submission to the foreign-language Oscar category. Now the trailer has arrived online and can be watched below.
Christian Bale stars as missionary John Haufman, who is caught up in the chaos in Nanking as the Japanese Imperial Army overran the Chinese capital city in 1937.
Haufman helped a group of schoolgirls and prostitutes to escape the invading forces, at a time when many of them were being killed or captured to be used as escorts for the troops.
Liu Heng adapted the script from Yan Geling’s novel 13 Flowers Of Nanjing, and the film also stars Paul Schneider and Shigeo Kobayashi. From the looks of the final result, Zhang certainly didn’t skimp on the visuals, and with Bale providing a solid core, this is one we’re eager to see as soon as it finds some distribution.