Reuters

British actor Christian Bale (L), Chinese director Zhang Yimou (2nd L) and actress Ni Ni pose during a photocall to promote the film "The Flowers of War" at the 62nd Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin February 13, 2012. REUTERS/Thomas Peter (GERMANY - Tags: ENTERTAINMENT)

Leading Chinese and US directors turned their spotlight on war in two movies screened at the Berlin Film Festival this week.

But while Chinese star director Zhang Yimou’s The Flowers of War told the story of the Japanese invasion of the Chinese city of Nanking in 1937, US director Billy Bob Thornton explored how war has shaped the views of different generations in America.

Speaking at a press conference in Berlin, 60-year-old Yimou described the occupation of Nanking by Japanese forces as “a tragic and traumatic chapter” in Chinese history.

The Flowers of War, which stars British-born actor Christian Bale and Chinese actress Ni Ni, spares the audience none of the brutality that the Japanese troops meted out to the residents of Nanking during the invasion, in which about 200 000 are thought to have died.

At the press conference, Yimou also paid tribute to the Japanese actors in the film, who were called upon to portray acts of inhumanity such as indiscriminate slaughter and rape. “They put their art above everything else,” Yimou said.

Set in the US in the 1960s, Thornton’s movie Jayne Mansfield’s Car looks at war from another perspective – through three generations of one family. While the grandfathers served in World War I and the fathers served in World War II, the sons face the prospect of fighting in Vietnam.

“It is about the romancing of the war issue,” Thorton, 56, told a press conference in Berlin.

“The pulse of this story was driven by father-and-son relationships,” said Thorton, who also wrote and stars in the film.

To tell his story he has put together a cast including John Hurt and Kevin Bacon.

Thornton’s ex-wife, Angelina Jolie received the Cinema for Peace prize on Monday in Berlin for her opposition to war and genocide.

The prize is not part of the festival.

Jolie’s directorial debut with her Balkans war drama In the Land of Blood and Honey was screened at the festival on Saturday. – Sapa

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