If there's one thing Christian Bale is good at, it's yelling. Over the course of a long career, he's yelled as Batman, he's yelled as John Connor, he's yelled at directors of photography. He's a natural. He doesn't spend that much time yelling in this new trailer for Zhang Yimou's The Flowers of War, but when he does, his delivery of the line, "This is a house of the lord!" is right up there with his exacting standards of passion and volume. Bravo, sir.



Based on the novel The 13 Women of Nanjing by writer Yan Geling, The Flowers of War finds Bale playing a Catholic priest attempting to protect Chinese students and prostitutes from Japanese soldiers during the Nanking Massacre of 1937. The movie is China's entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the upcoming 84th Academy Awards.

The Flowers of War hasn't been on my radar at all, but between the intriguing trailer and the presence of Bale, it probably should be on everybody's. The Flowers of War is set to release here in China on December 16th, but doesn't yet have an American release date announced.