Christian Bale Discusses ‘The Flowers of War’

Christian Bale likes to mix up his movie roles, from big blockbusters such as the Batman movies to more cult movies like American Psycho and The Machinist. The new Batman movie, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ is set to open this year. Before that, Bale has starred in ‘The Flowers of War’, a historical movie directed by Chinese director Zhang Yimou. ‘The Flowers of War’ centres round the Nanjing Massacre and Bale plays an American who comes to do business in China.

Christian Bale has opened up about his latest movie, ‘The Flowers of War’. When asked about why he chose to star in this movie, he said:

“It’s not very often that you get an opportunity to work on a movie that’s… 60 percent in Mandarin, made within China and get to experience that entirely different culture of filmmaking.”

When asked to describe John Miller, the character Bale plays, he said:

“He appears to be an absolute reckless, drunken, good-time guy, who cares nothing about anybody but just making a quick buck for himself and moving on. That’s indeed how he would be thinking of this war to start with… but eventually it comes to be his own war.”

‘The Flowers of War’ cost $100 million to make and has been accused by some critics as being propaganda, something that is being denied by Christian Bale:

“I always do say that once you’re within a movie… sometimes you can’t see the wood for the trees. But I’ve really assessed this [charge], and I can’t bring myself to come to agree with it in any way whatsoever.”

Make up your own mind. See below for the intriguing trailer for ‘The Flowers of War’.

Source: npr