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Reel China: Christian Bale’s ‘Flowers’ picked as Oscar submission

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Christian Bale won the supporting actor Oscar earlier this year for “The Fighter.” If China has its way in next year’s Academy Awards, Bale could be represented in the foreign-language race.

China’s Film Bureau said Friday that “The Flowers of War,” an ambitious war story that is set and was filmed in China, will be the country’s official entry for the foreign-language trophy. Although large parts of the film are in English, the production, directed by Zhang Yimou (“Raise the Red Lantern,” “Hero”), is principally in Mandarin. Bale plays John Haufman, an American caught in Japan’s invasion of China in 1937. In a Nanking cathedral, Haufman fights to protect a collection of young girls from the Imperial Army.

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The American release plans for “The Flowers of War” have not been finalized. Bale is currently working on the Batman sequel “The Dark Knight Rises.”

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--John Horn

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