Christian Bale (of Dark Knight fame) plays the starring role in China’s top-grossing film of 2011, also the most expensive Chinese film ever made, Zhang Yimou’s epic The Flowers of War. See Christian Bale talk about it here.

The film is set in 1937, Nanjing, China, during the “Rape of Nanjing“, at the time of the Second Sino-Japanese War. This is a period that is glossed over in American history classes but was a truly terrible time for China, and is the reason why many Chinese citizens still bear a serious grudge against the Japanese (my mother included).

In the film, Christian Bale plays a mortician who pretends to be a priest to protect Chinese Catholic schoolgirls against imminent rape by Japanese soldiers; he also helps shelter a group of Chinese prostitutes, who ultimately decide to sacrifice themselves in place of the schoolgirls when the Japanese army requests their presence. I haven’t personally seen it yet but CSA is hoping to organize a screening of it at Princeton. It looks really good! Check out the American (English) trailer here. Get your Kleenex ready… 

a colorful fight scene from 'Hero'

Zhang Yimou is one of the most famous Chinese directors; from Wikipedia: “His films are particularly noted for their rich use of colour”; a recurrent theme in his films is “the resilience of Chinese people in the face of hardship and adversity.” He discovered famous Chinese actresses Gong Li and internationally-known Zhang Ziyi (Memoirs of a Geisha; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Rush Hour 2). He also directed the opening and closing ceremonies at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

His most famous movies are probably Raise the Red Lantern (Gong Li), Hero (Jet Li, Zhang Ziyi), House of Flying Daggers (Zhang Ziyi), and Curse of the Golden Flower (Gong Li, Chow Yun Fat, Jay Chou).

I have watched Hero and House of Flying Daggers, two of the most famous wuxia (martial arts) Chinese films and they are very powerful! Curse of the Golden Flower features famous singer-songwriter Jay Chou who I really love, but I haven’t seen the film yet. I have also been meaning to see Raise the Red Lantern, a true classic of contemporary Chinese film. Overall, while I highly recommend watching these movies (English subtitled of course…), they are probably best for older kids (I would say PG13), as there is violence and sexual content.

A quick note on my favorite Zhang Yimou movie: I absolutely adore House of Flying Daggers. I was actually in Shanghai when the movie first came out in the summer of 2004, and several of my older cousins took me to see it. I have watched it multiple times in the 8 years since!

Hollywood actress Zhang Ziyi in a famous scene from House of Flying Daggers

The plot is thick and intriguing, and the visuals are simply stunning. It features a complex love triangle between two men and one woman, portrayed by Zhang Ziyi, Andy Lau, and Takeshi Kaneshiro. Zhang Ziyi is beautiful as a blind martial artist/courtesan. Andy Lau (b. 1961) is a famous actor who started out as a hugely popular pop singer in the 1980s – my mother LOVES him. But Takeshi Kaneshiro (b. 1973), a half-Japanese singer turned actor, really stole my 13-year-old heart when I first saw it! He was one of my first celebrity crushes, actually, and probably one of the reasons I still enjoy re-watching this movie 🙂

Check out the US trailer here (there is no English dubbed version, unfortunately).

Also: watching Chinese movies and TV shows is a great way to familiarize yourself with the sounds of the Chinese language…although I wouldn’t say it’s a great way to learn the language. Even though I’m pretty fluent and have taken Chinese for years, I still use English subs when I watch Chinese TV and movies to supplement my understanding. Of course, there are plenty of idioms and such that don’t translate well, and that’s where it helps that I actually speak Chinese to begin with. I will be posting more Chinese TV shows and movies in the future!