The Flowers of War: Reflection from the Film

Recently I've watched a film called "The Flowers of War." It was about a group of young catholic school girls and a group of prostitutes struggling to survive under the roof of a deserted church in Nanking during the Japanese invasion, under the protection of an American undertaker who pretends to be a priest. The films are with flaws, yet, it has one powerful message that help me to easily overlook the flaws.

That message was "Do not judge other people"

In the beginning, you  see how drunk and greedy the undertaker was. He seemed to be only a selfish human being who only looks after his own needs, you see a group of foul-mouthed prostitutes who seem to do nothing valuable but just be a burden to the church. In the beginning, there are scenes tha show how much the catholic girls look down on these women. They view the prostitutes as being dirty sinful people, not worthy even to share the bathroom with. But as the story unfolds itself to the final part, it was all these unworthy people who willingly sacrificed their lives to save these young girls from being brutally raped and murdered by the Japanese soldiers.

How many times in our lives we quickly look at one group of people and then label them as sinners? How many times we look at other people with disdain, thinking that we're better than them because we wouldn't do such sinful thing? Our minds are so quick to judge. Isn't that already a sinful thing inside of us?

I highly recommend the film. But be prepared of some violence, though. But I guarantee you  that the violence in this film is milder than the film "Don't Cry, Nanking" which actually depicts the true horror of the invasion of Nanking. I didn't dare to watch that film. Hearing about it was enough for me. I've seen some pictures in the museum and read about what happend there and already cried my tears. No need to see the film that shows such horror. I recommend this film "The Flowers of War"  because the story shows that hope and kindness still exist even in such a terrible war. But still, there will be a couple of scenes so violent that you would want to look away or close your eyes.

Below is the trailer of the film, you can rent it from regular DVD rental shop.

Click here to watch the trailer