Academy Award winning actor Christian Bale has been stirring up some controversy in China and in the West recently. Bale stars in the Chinese film The Flowers of War (金陵十三钗) which was just released in Chinese movie theaters last week (and will have a limited theater release in the U.S. as well). The film's story takes place in 1937 in the Chinese city of Nanjing (formerly known as Nanking) which was invaded by Japan during the Sino-Japanese War.
In some Western media, Bale has been criticized for appearing in an allegedly Chinese propaganda-oriented film (for its anti-Japanese perspective). I haven't seen the film yet, but knowing about the historical events portrayed in the film, its certainly understandable for it to be anti-Japanese. Japanese soldiers committed massive atrocities including the rape, torture and murder of civilians which collectively became known as the Nanking Massacre or the Rape of Nanking. In the video clip below, Chinese director Zhang Yimou claims that The Flowers of War is not propaganda.
I haven't seen The Flowers of War yet so I don't know how propagandistic it may or may not be, but I don't think there's anything wrong with making a film that depicts historical events (even within a partly fictionalized story) that portrays atrocities such as those committed by the Japanese in a very negative way. I also don't think its fair to assume that any Chinese film depicting the Nanking Massacre or other atrocities committed by the Japanese during the Sino-Japanese War is inaccurate or solely propaganda. For example, an excellent 2009 Chinese film, City of Life and Death (南京! 南京; also titled Nanjing Nanjing),portrays the Japanese atrocities in Nanjing, but also shows that not all Japanese soldiers wanted to participate in the atrocities or escaped with a clear conscience.
Last week (possibly in an effort to negate the Western criticism for his appearance in The Flowers of War), Bale tried to meet with Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng, but was prevented from doing so by Chinese security. Chen is confined to his home and when Bale (accompanied by a CNN crew) tried to visit him, they were turned away and assaulted. While I don't condone the Chinese treatment of Chen or any type of assault, the cynic in me finds it hard to believe that Bale was hoping something like this might happen. Apparently Bale (or people representing him) approached CNN about visiting Chen and they must have known this wasn't going to be allowed so its certainly possible that they intended to push things a bit with Chen's guards to get some good video footage and publicity (and portray Bale in a "role" as a human rights ally).
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