HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 35 Pairs of Chicago Passes to ‘The Flowers of War’ With Christian Bale

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CHICAGO – In our latest foreign-language edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 35 admit-two movie passes up for grabs to the Golden Globe-nominated foreign-language film “The Flowers of War” starring Christian Bale from the director of “Hero”!

“The Flowers of War” from director Yimou Zhang also stars Ni Ni, Xinyi Zhang, Paul Schneider, Shigeo Kobayashi, Atsurô Watabe, Dawei Tong, Tianyuan Huang, Bai Xue, Takashi Yamanaka, Shawn Dou, Kefan Cao and Hai-Bo Huang from writer Heng Liu based on the novel by Geling Yan. The film opens in Chicago on Jan. 20, 2012.

To win your free pass to the advance Chicago screening of “The Flowers of War” courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just answer our question below. That’s it! This advance screening is on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2011 at 7 p.m. in downtown Chicago. Directions to enter this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup and win can be found beneath the graphic below.

The movie poster for “The Flowers of War” starring Christian Bale.
Image credit: New Picture Company

Here is the synopsis for “The Flowers of War”:

From internationally celebrated director Zhang Yimou (“Ju Dou,” “Raise the Red Lantern,” “Hero,” “House of Flying Daggers”) comes a story of love and war – and a band of outcasts who emerge as unlikely heroes from the shadows of a city’s occupation. At once lyrical and visceral, the film enters the apocalyptic world of Nanjing in 1937 only to find a vibrant human story about the invisible people of the city and a series of unexpected relationships that lead to a resonant act of sacrifice.

It begins when the danger in the streets of Nanjing throws together a group of opposites: a flock of shell-shocked school children, a dozen seductive courtesans and a renegade American (Academy Award winner Christian Bale, “The Fighter,” “The Dark Knight”) posing as a priest to save his own skin (or so he thinks). They’re all seeking safety behind a walled cathedral. Trapped by marauding soldiers, over the next few days the prejudices and divides between them will fall away as they unite around a last-ditch plan to protect the children from impending catastrophe.

Shot over 5.5 months in the most extensive production ever undertaken in China, the film recreates the reality of Nanjing after Japanese troops invaded the Chinese city, which sets off one of the most shocking episodes of civilian suffering in the modern history of war. It’s not so much about the deadly battles in the street as it is about all the life that continues to go on behind the closed doors of a city in hiding.

“The Flowers of War” is directed by Zhang Yimou from a screenplay by Liu Heng (“The Story of Qui Ju,” “Ju Dou”) and Yan Geling based on Geling’s novel “The Thirteen Flowers of War”. The film is produced by Zhang Weiping (here marking his tenth collaboration with Zhang Yimou) under his New Pictures Film banner. The executive producers are David Linde, ChaoYing Deng and Bill Kong.

Joining Christian Bale and leading lady Ni Ni is a cast also including 13-year-old Zhang Xinyi in her film debut as the narrator, Shu; newcomer Huang Tianyuan as George; Tong Dawei as Major Li; Atsuro Watabe as Col. Hasegawa; Shigeo Kobayashi as Lt. Kato; and popular Chinese television presenter Cao Kefan as Mr. Meng.

The movie trailer for “The Flowers of War” can be watched now below.

To win your free advance-screening movie tickets, make sure you’re logged into your HollywoodChicago.com Web site account. If you don’t yet have one, you can quickly register here. Having a Web site account with a valid e-mail address is required to win. Then, simply add a new comment in the form below. In your comment, include an answer to this question:

What does make love – not war – mean to you?

This Hookup is simple! Just submit your comment below and we will award 35 admit-two tickets randomly via e-mail for our “The Flowers of War” Hookup. Good luck!

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By ADAM FENDELMAN Publisher HollywoodChicago.com [email protected]