Following on from the three new posters we saw last night for Christian Bale’s next film, The Flowers of War, China’s anticipated entry into the Best Foreign Language Film category for the 2012 Academy Awards, we’ve now got another terrific new poster from the film and dozens of great images to share with you, courtesy of MTime, via The Playlist.

Directed by the renowned Chinese director Zhang Yimou, whose credits include Hero and House of Flying Daggers, The Flowers of War will be getting its Oscar-qualifying run in a limited release in the States at the end of the month. And this should, if my rough knowledge of the rules, mean that it will be eligible for other categories alongside the Best Foreign Language Film.

We first saw the film’s trailer back in October, and it was an absolutely powerful first trailer at that, so my expectations for the film are already set high, and I think we’ve got every reason to believe that our high expectations are going to be met and then some. Bale is a fantastic actor, and this looks like an incredibly interesting and brilliant follow-up to his Oscar-winning performance in David O. Russell’s The Fighter last year.

Previously titled Nanjing Heroes and 13 Flowers of Nanjing, the film’s synopsis, via Collider, looks a little something like this:

“In 1937, Nanking stands at the forefront of a war between China and Japan. As the invading Japanese Imperial Army overruns China’s capital city, desperate civilians seek refuge behind the nominally protective walls of a western cathedral. Here, John Miller (CHRISTIAN BALE), an American trapped amidst the chaos of battle and the ensuing occupation takes shelter, joined by a group of innocent schoolgirls and thirteen courtesans, equally determined to escape the horrors taking place outside the church walls.  Struggling to survive the violence and persecution wrought by the Japanese army, it is an act of heroism which eventually leads the seemingly disparate group to fight back, risking their lives for the sake of everyone. Through treacherous surroundings and facing unimaginable evil, THE FLOWERS OF WAR, inspired by true life events, manages to tell a genuine story of hope, love and sacrifice. With nowhere to run and nowhere to hide, fate always has a way of bringing the most unlikely heroes together.”

Still no word yet on a UK release, but I’m hoping we’ll have a bit of luck on our side and get it sometime in the new year. Maybe not before the Oscars roll around in February, but hopefully not long after that, because this looks like it’s going to be pretty damn amazing. Without further ado, here’s the striking new poster for the film, with its butterfly of blood, followed up by a selection of great images from the forthcoming film. If you’d like to see all the rest, and they’re certainly worth your time, then you can head over to MTime here. (I saved my personal favourite ’til last, so be sure to scroll all the way to the end to take a look; it’s a really beautiful image.)