Wednesday 16 January 2013

The Flowers Of War


A friend at work informed me that I dress like the women from a film called The Flowers of War, I was all like 'well lend it to me and we will see!'. I wish I did! if only I had these clothes, not even going to apologise for the excessive screenshots, as this is sweet nectar for me. 

Directed by Yimou Zhang of House of Flying Daggers and Curse of the Golden Flower, The Flowers of War centres on drunkard American John Miller, a mortician make up artist by trade. He poses as a priest at a young girl's Catholic school to save his skin during the Japanese Rape of Nanking in 1937. Initially, John is not interested in saving the young girls from the depravities of the Japanese soldiers, and drinks himself into a stupor, that's until the famous women from the Qin Huai River show up. These mistresses of the river are a sight to behold, all silk Cheongsams and fur with beautifully coiffured hair. John quickly falls for queen bee, Yu Mo played by the stunning Ni Ni. It's a shame that the film had to have such a Hollywood name as Bale to play the priest, as Robert Egbert pointed out in his rather scathing review, why couldn't it of been a Chinese actor? What the film lacks in depth is made up by the sumptuous cinematography and the down right gorgeous clothes. I definitely recommend it for pure aesthetic reasons, it doesn't bring anything new to the table with regards to what happened in Nanking, but if you are wanting to drool over clothes and hairdos go watch. 






































All screenshots taken by me

35 comments:

  1. This post is simply bursting with wonderful mid-century Asian fashion inspiration. I've been feeling myself pulled, sartorially speaking, towards the Far East for the past few months and just bought (a few days ago) a 1950s day dress with a Japanese inspired motif on it (my first vintage dress with a distinct Asian flare to it).

    This sounds like a movie I would enjoy greatly and will be adding to my "to watch" list for sure. Thank you very much for the introduction.

    ♥ Jessica

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    1. Ah I want to see you in said dress. Make sure you watch it soon!

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  2. Wow, this is absolutely stunning! Definitely going to have to watch this soon *_*

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  3. Gorgeous!! That sea of perfectly waved hairdos had me swooning, and the cinematography looks stunning. I'll be checking this out for sure!

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  4. Um wow. I'm definitely going to have to track this film down!
    -Andi x

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    1. Ah make sure you do, you will be hairinspired! x

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  5. What a great compliment! I'll definitely have to take a look at this film....

    www.mancunianvintage.com

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  6. Wow, what fabulous, fabulous hair,clothes everything! How have I not seen this film!! Oh and in my opinion there can never be too many screenshots, I just loves em! xx

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    1. Screen-shotting is addictive, that's a fact! xxx

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  7. Wowzers!!! Such amaaaaaaaazing hair and coats....those COATS!!!

    Incendiary Blonde

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    1. I know I need the teal and leopard one in my life!

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  8. Jaysus, fabulous clothes AND hair!!! And gorgeous Asian women!!! (I love Asian and Latina wenches)
    This looks like quite the visual feast! I am adding this to my must watch list right away!
    O, and you DO look rather like these lovely ladies, my darling! What a wonderful compliment!
    XXX

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    1. The clothes are heaven, the film was like a visual senses overload! Aha yeah if you squint hard enough, thank you! xxxx

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  9. The shots are stunning, and all the women are beautiful. Now I want to watch the fim at once, ahhhhhhhhhhh
    Thank you, my dear helgar for your warmth and kind words.You are beautiful inside out
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

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    1. Yes you must see it, you will adore it! xxxx

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  10. Wow--these ladies look fantastic! My great-grandmother has a cheongsam that my great-grandfather brought back for her. It's soooo tiny! Of course, my great-grandmother was (and is) a very small person. I'd like to find one that fits me someday.

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  11. Oh my goodness! I have to watch this like now! It looks incredible. I am literally dribbling over your screen shots. xxx

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  12. Wow! Those screen-captures are gorgeous. I love a good costume drama, and I think the fashions from that period were beautiful. I'll check this one out for sure; such an interesting and terrible time in history.

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  13. I saw this when it came out-I was swooning over their clothes, hair, and makeup!!

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    1. So much swooning to be had over this film!

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  14. Wow, this has to be seen! Thanks for recommendation!

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  15. I watched the House of Flying Daggers but not this one, when I was in my early 20's I was obsess with 30's style and I was wearing my hair short and all I wanted to do is imitate this wave hair style :)

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    1. That's another favourite of mine, just for the pure amount of stunt work. Aah I could definitely imagine you rocking that!

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  16. Thank you for the beautiful screen shots! This is indeed a stunning movie...as a lover of the Qipao (Cheongsam) I really do wish I had their wardrobe...such beautiful garments! I must say that the hair and make up were done so perfectly well...I also know what you mean about the casting as I felt the same when I watched 'Shanghai' with Gong Li, Chow Yun Fat and John Cusack in it. I have been doing a series of posts on the Qipao and am planning a post focused on the Qipao in movies. So another thriller-like Qipao period movie that I can recommend is 'Dangerous Liaison' and 'Lust Caution', though subtitles might be required there are some lovely costumes in the movie.
    May x
    www.walkinginmay.com

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  17. "It's a shame that the film had to have such a Hollywood name as Bale to play the priest, as Robert Egbert pointed out in his rather scathing review, why couldn't it of been a Chinese actor?"

    I think this movie took an inspiration from actual Nanking stories of George Hogg or Gladys Aylward.. Both are British and they saved children.

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  18. Il film è veramente emozionante. Vestiti trucco sceneggiatura. E bale è bravissimo nel trasformare il suo personaggio da ubriaco occidentale in cerca di denaro a tutor di ragazzine sperdute in una crudele guerra... Il bello è proprio il suo essere occidentale e quindi del tutto estraneo al conflitto. Ma da egoista indifferente diventa una specie di eroe sotto gli occhi della meravigliosa ni ni. Da vedere

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