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Nanjing, China 1937. Japanese forces invade this once-capital of the Republic of China on December 9th. Throughout the following six weeks, soldiers raped thousands of women and annihilated hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians with mass executions; crowds mown down by firing squads, and victims digging their own graves. Few events carry the ugly and sickening connotations of what has become known as the Rape of Nanking . Director Lu Chuan tells the horrifying story through several figures, including a conscience-stricken Japanese soldier and John Rabe, a Nazi businessman who would ultimately save thousands of Chinese civilians lives.
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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I wanted to see this after having seen, `City of War' last year which allegedly tells the story of John Rabe, who is acknowledged for having saved thousands of Chinese during what has gone down I history as `The rape of Nanking'. This film aims to tell the true version of events and includes the efforts made by John Rabe and the small international delegation that stayed on to help the Chinese.
Director Lu Chuan tells the unrelenting horror story of the six week occupation in an observational way but it is impossible to not become partisan as the Japanese are seen to be little short of murdering monsters. He uses several characters to tell the story and has interestingly included an Imperial Japanese Army soldier who has a guilty conscience. He even feels he is having a relationship with on of the euphemistically titled `comfort girls'. This depiction of a confused and caring Japanese soldier actually brought death threats to Lu and his family as being over sympathetic and it was removed from some mailnland Chinese cinemas, however it was saved by the personal support from Li Changchun, a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China.
That aside this is unrelenting in its quite often graphic depiction of the murders, beheadings rapes, and mass executions that took place taking the lives of 300,000 Chinese.
It is shot entirely in black and white and is actually lit brilliantly to give it a period feel (probably to reflect that these events took place in 1937). However the cinematographic beauty aside, this was a very harrowing and sobering film, which I must confess I found hard to get through. That is not because it runs for 130 mins, but because I found the constant brutality a bit much and I do not consider myself to be a bit soft on such matters. The only film I ever walked out of for gross content was `Salo -or 120 days of Sodom' (I was actually in my own home at the time). Even though this is blisteringly real, beautifully shot and exceptionally well acted, I found it both demanding and moving.
As I said above this is not for the faint hearted and accusations of anti Japanese propaganda should be dismissed as this tends towards trying to examine the human spirit in the depths of loss and despair. A truly excellent and stunning piece of cinema.
Director Lu Chuan tells the unrelenting horror story of the six week occupation in an observational way but it is impossible to not become partisan as the Japanese are seen to be little short of murdering monsters. He uses several characters to tell the story and has interestingly included an Imperial Japanese Army soldier who has a guilty conscience. He even feels he is having a relationship with on of the euphemistically titled `comfort girls'. This depiction of a confused and caring Japanese soldier actually brought death threats to Lu and his family as being over sympathetic and it was removed from some mailnland Chinese cinemas, however it was saved by the personal support from Li Changchun, a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China.
That aside this is unrelenting in its quite often graphic depiction of the murders, beheadings rapes, and mass executions that took place taking the lives of 300,000 Chinese.
It is shot entirely in black and white and is actually lit brilliantly to give it a period feel (probably to reflect that these events took place in 1937). However the cinematographic beauty aside, this was a very harrowing and sobering film, which I must confess I found hard to get through. That is not because it runs for 130 mins, but because I found the constant brutality a bit much and I do not consider myself to be a bit soft on such matters. The only film I ever walked out of for gross content was `Salo -or 120 days of Sodom' (I was actually in my own home at the time). Even though this is blisteringly real, beautifully shot and exceptionally well acted, I found it both demanding and moving.
As I said above this is not for the faint hearted and accusations of anti Japanese propaganda should be dismissed as this tends towards trying to examine the human spirit in the depths of loss and despair. A truly excellent and stunning piece of cinema.
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray
Lu Chuan's startling debut film was the innovative and very entertaining "The Missing Gun". He followed this up with the magisterial eco fable "Kekexili Mountain Patrol", which showcased a burgeoning talent for sweeping cinematography. He then stepped up to make the big budget "City of Life and Death", the epic story of the infamous "Rape of Nanking". Many a talented director weaned on smaller budget movies has crashed and burned with the greater demands required of the epic. Thankfully Lu Chuan is not one of those, and has enhanced his reputation further in the West, if not in his Chinese homeland where the sympathetic treatment of one Japanese soldier caused controversy. Such is still the anguish to the Chinese psyche at the mere mention of Nanking even to this day.
The film commences at the fall of the great Chinese city to the Imperial Japanese army. This signals the commencement of an orgy of violence on a biblical scale. Those of a sensitive disposition might be advised to steer well clear of this film as it does not shirk from depicting many of the atrocities committed, which makes both for compelling and harrowing viewing. We follow the lives of individuals from both sides in this barbarous cauldron, where life can be very cheap indeed. At times you are inevitably reminded of the horror of the holocaust, with the stream of slaughterhouse like images that assail the senses. If the film sets out to shock, then it certainly achieves its aim.
The film is aptly made in a stark black and white which is appropriate given the sombre subject matter. Some of the images are beautifully composed, with powerful cinematography. Lu Chuan manages to avoid the pitfalls of sensationalising the violence, which is filmed in a matter of fact way, showing the scant regard for life and the arbitrary nature of the killing fields. The well documented atrocities committed by the Japanese in Nanking were even worse than the film depicts, it should be added. A special mention should be made of Hideo Nakizumi's towering performance as the controversially sympathetic Japanese Sergeant Kadokawa. He is at the centre of some of the films best scenes, especially in the films immensely powerful ending.
Lu Chuan has made a brave decision, in trying to make a film about such an appalling piece of history. There have been many films to highlight "Man's inhumanity to Man", and any director would be challenged with such volatile material, but Chuan has ridden the whirlwind and made a very fine film, although one you may not wish to see more than once. He is a director who has the armament to forge a glittering career, and perhaps even match some of the old Japanese masters of cinema. I look forward to his next film with great anticipation.
The film commences at the fall of the great Chinese city to the Imperial Japanese army. This signals the commencement of an orgy of violence on a biblical scale. Those of a sensitive disposition might be advised to steer well clear of this film as it does not shirk from depicting many of the atrocities committed, which makes both for compelling and harrowing viewing. We follow the lives of individuals from both sides in this barbarous cauldron, where life can be very cheap indeed. At times you are inevitably reminded of the horror of the holocaust, with the stream of slaughterhouse like images that assail the senses. If the film sets out to shock, then it certainly achieves its aim.
The film is aptly made in a stark black and white which is appropriate given the sombre subject matter. Some of the images are beautifully composed, with powerful cinematography. Lu Chuan manages to avoid the pitfalls of sensationalising the violence, which is filmed in a matter of fact way, showing the scant regard for life and the arbitrary nature of the killing fields. The well documented atrocities committed by the Japanese in Nanking were even worse than the film depicts, it should be added. A special mention should be made of Hideo Nakizumi's towering performance as the controversially sympathetic Japanese Sergeant Kadokawa. He is at the centre of some of the films best scenes, especially in the films immensely powerful ending.
Lu Chuan has made a brave decision, in trying to make a film about such an appalling piece of history. There have been many films to highlight "Man's inhumanity to Man", and any director would be challenged with such volatile material, but Chuan has ridden the whirlwind and made a very fine film, although one you may not wish to see more than once. He is a director who has the armament to forge a glittering career, and perhaps even match some of the old Japanese masters of cinema. I look forward to his next film with great anticipation.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This is a powerful but very grim film; it opens with the military resistance of the Chinese in Naking and swiftly moves into the massacres, rapes and conscripting of Chinese women for the mobile bordellos of the Japanese army. You know that things are going to be extreme when a Nazi official is a hero. Filmed in stark gray and white the Chinese are ground to pieces by the brutality of their Japanese conquerors whose behaviour resembles that of Europe in the Thirty Years War. This is still a sensitive issue in China, much as the Japanese behavour to Allied POWs is still remembered here.
Not one for someone feeling depressed.
Not one for someone feeling depressed.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A restrained picture of hell on earth
As one who has family mambers who suffered under the Japs, it is outrageous to know that there are yet so many deniers of the Asian holocaust, of which Nanjing city was but an... Read more
Published 3 months ago by ElCid
"Life is more difficult that death"
I would start saying that this is indeed an excellent piece of cinema. In short, the movie begins with the Japanese assault over China's former capital, Nanjing, and then revolts... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Luis
Beautiful, but definitely no masterpiece
Wonderful monochrome cinematography with some stunning photographic moments. Unfortunately, that's the high point of this disappointing film about a horrific period in Chinese &... Read more
Published 5 months ago by The Demon Pazuzu
Great film of the shocking Nanjing Massacre.
When I visited the Hall of the Nanjing Massacre Museum in Nanjing, I bought a DVD of the film from the shop there, but back in Australia, it failed to play towards the end of the... Read more
Published 7 months ago by veiledcottage
City of Life and Death
Unbelievably inane and boring account of the Rape of Nanking. It was perhaps made by a Japanese director seeking to whitewash the atrocities committed by the Japanese in the... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Peter Harris
NIGHTMARE IN NANKING
This is the best movie yet made about the gruesome japanese massacre in Nanking 1937 ...it is shot in atmospheric monochrome , like ''Shindlers list '', but lacks the captivating... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Colin Powis
Awesome
One word: Awesome. Like the Chinese Schindler's List, without Liam N and the Steven S's preaching. May not be historically accurate i am lead to believe, but isnt history written... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Rusty
World class kino
Horror films seldom match,given that truth is horribler than fiction,historical atrocities but the rape of Nanking has to be put in at least three contexts as to the graphic... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Ken Raus
A great film about an horrific series of events, which are sadly true
I'd say that this is a wartime drama, based on true events, the massacre of 300,000+ people in the then capital of China, Nanking. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Dazman
City of life and death
Seller sent this item out fast via post, I would recommened this seller.
At a low price this is worth watching. Very Good story to this film.
At a low price this is worth watching. Very Good story to this film.
Published 9 months ago by John A. Dabson
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