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The Flowers of War poster

Movies that feel likeThe Flowers of War (2011)

A Westerner finds refuge with a group of women in a church during Japan's rape of Nanking in 1937. Posing as a priest, he attempts to lead the women to safety.

If you loved The Flowers of War, the closest films we have are Katyn (2007), Flame & Citron (2008) and To Live (1994). All three share The Flowers of War's contemplative and bleak feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is The Captain (2018).

🍅 41% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.5 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Zhang Yimoucontemplativeepicbleakgritty
5 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Amazon Prime Video · OVID

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If The Flowers of War hit the spot, these will too

Katyn poster
Katyn
2007 · dir. Andrzej Wajda
🍅 91%★ 7drama · history · war

Common ground: a true story

The difference: Reviewed even better

On September 1st, 1939, Nazi Germany invades Poland, unleashing World War II. On September 17th, the Soviet Red Army crosses the border. The Polish army, unable to fight on two fronts, is defeated. Thousands of Polish men, both military and government officials, are captured by the invaders. Their fate will only be known several years later.

Flame & Citron poster
Flame & Citron
2008 · dir. Ole Christian Madsen
🍅 86%★ 7.2drama · history · war

Contemplative and epic in the same breath

The difference: Easier on the grit than The Flowers of War

Gunman Flame and his partner Citron assassinate Nazi collaborators for the Danish resistance. Assigned targets by their Allies-connected leader, Aksel Winther, they relish the opportunity to begin targeting the Nazis themselves. When they begin to doubt the validity of their assignments, their morally complicated task becomes even more labyrinthine.

To Live poster
To Live
1994 · dir. Zhang Yimou
🍅 87%★ 8.3drama · romance · war

Both are Zhang Yimou's work, and they rhyme

The difference: Takes it somewhere less epic than The Flowers of War does

Married couple Fugui and Jiazhen endure tumultuous events in mid-20th century mainland China as their personal fortunes move from wealthy landownership to peasantry.

The Shadow in My Eye poster
The Shadow in My Eye
2021 · dir. Ole Bornedal
★ 7.3war · drama · historyNetflix

The same preoccupation in both: a true story

On March 21st, 1945, the British Royal Air Force set out on a mission to bomb Gestapo's headquarters in Copenhagen. The raid had fatal consequences as some of the bombers accidentally targeted a school and more than 120 people were killed, 86 of whom were children.

The Captain poster
The Captain
2018 · dir. Robert Schwentke
🍅 83%★ 7.3war · drama · historyPrime Video

Bleak drama, and it commits to that

Germany, 1945. Soldier Willi Herold, a deserter of the German army, stumbles into a uniform of a Nazi captain abandoned during the last and desperate weeks of the Third Reich. Newly emboldened by the allure of a suit that he has stolen only to stay warm, Willi discovers that many Germans will follow the leader, whoever he is.

9th Company poster
9th Company
2005 · dir. Fyodor Bondarchuk
🍅 69%★ 7.1war · drama · history

History with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

Russian army recruits complete training and take their posting in late 1980s Afghanistan, where the insurgents are slowly gaining the upper hand.

T-34 poster
T-34
2018 · dir. Alexey Sidorov
★ 6.8drama · history · warPrime Video

War built on scale, twice over

In 1944, a courageous group of Russian soldiers managed to escape from German captivity in a half-destroyed legendary T-34 tank. Those were the times of unforgettable bravery, fierce fighting, unbreakable love, and legendary miracles.

The Champion poster
The Champion
2021 · dir. Maciej Barczewski
★ 6.8drama · history · warPrime Video

Bleak drama in both cases

It is 1940. The first transport of prisoners arrives at the newly created concentration camp Auschwitz. One of them is Tadeusz “Teddy” Pietrzykowski, pre-war boxing champion of Warsaw. The camp officers force him to fight in the ring for his and other prisoners’ lives. However, his every win strengthens the hope that Nazis are not invincible. Auschwitz officers notice the growing resistance. The confrontation with the authorities of the camp becomes inevitable.

Kalashnikov AK-47 poster
Kalashnikov AK-47
2020 · dir. Konstantin Buslov
★ 6.6war · history · dramaPrime Video

Both lean on stillness more than on history

A Russian military propaganda film about the tank commander Kalashnikov, severely injured in battle in 1941. The accident leaves him incapacitated and unable to return to the front line. While recovering in the hospital, he begins creating the initial sketches of what will become one of the world’s most legendary weapons. A self-taught inventor is only 29 when he develops the now iconic assault riffle — the AK-47. Shot in occupied Crimea.

Land of Mine poster
Land of Mine
2015 · dir. Martin Zandvliet
🍅 91%★ 7.8war · drama · history

Epic war in both cases

In the days following the surrender of Germany in May 1945, a group of young German prisoners of war is handed over to the Danish authorities and subsequently sent to the West Coast, where they are ordered to remove the more than two million mines that the Germans had placed in the sand along the coast. With their bare hands, crawling around in the sand, the boys are forced to perform the dangerous work under the leadership of a Danish sergeant.

Stalingrad poster
Stalingrad
1993 · dir. Joseph Vilsmaier
★ 7.5drama · history · war

Both lean on bleakness more than on drama

A German Platoon is explored through the brutal fighting of the Battle of Stalingrad. After half of their number is wiped out and they're placed under the command of a sadistic captain, the platoon lieutenant leads his men to desert. The platoon members attempt escape from the city, now surrounded by the Soviet Army.

Hotel Rwanda poster
Hotel Rwanda
2004 · dir. Terry George
🍅 91%★ 8.1drama · history · war

Both are built on the same subject: atrocity

Inspired by true events, this film takes place in Rwanda in the 1990s when more than a million Tutsis were killed in a genocide that went mostly unnoticed by the rest of the world. Hotel owner Paul Rusesabagina houses over a thousand refuges in his hotel in attempt to save their lives.

In the mood for more contemplative?

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The best-reviewed films that share The Flowers of War’s defining feeling.