The Rape of Nanking
As far as definitions for Hell on Earth go, the assault on the Chinese city of Nanking by the invading Japanese army in 1937 is certainly on a par with the horrors of the worst of the Nazi concentration camps. Ruthlessly and systematically wiping out of the Chinese army soldiers defending the town, the abuse, torture and mass execution of citizens and the notorious rape and murder of the city's women engaged as "comfort women" for the Japanese troops is one of the darkest moments in the history of modern war crimes.
It's a harrowing subject with material of such a degree of obscenity that, despite it being a popular subject for film with several documentary attempts and another film about John Rabe released around the same time as this one, it's a difficult one to approach within the limits of what a conventional war movie can show. Appropriately then, Lu Chuan adopts a style and approach similar to Steven Spielberg in Schindler's List, shooting in eye-catching widescreen...
Epic depiction of the massacre at Nanking: a devastating & powerful film that is difficult to watch but should not be ignored
This epic film about the siege and massacre of Nanking in 1937 by Japanese forces pulls no punches, and depicts things as they were, at least as best as that can be accomplished while focused on the perspectives of a small number of recognizable characters. While there are heroic acts on the part of a few, there are no real heroes here who manage to make it through all the way against all odds. In the face of this atrocity, there is no Schindler to save the day (for some), and the Nazi businessman who does try to protect some of the women and children left behind when their husbands have been executed, ends up leaving, with regrets, when he's called back by the German leadership who are unwilling to risk antagonizing Japan. While there are atrocious acts on the part of many, the film does not seek to demonize so much as to demonstrate the devastation of war on all who are a part of it. The film doesn't in any way excuse the rapes and the murder of civilians that did take place...
An eye-opening, horrifying epic of one of the 20th century's truly terrible events
We in the West firmly believe we're first in all things. Our triumphs are greater, our tragedies more shattering. "City of Life and Death" offers a rebuttal to that argument; the Rape of Nanking sadly ranks high among the great atrocities of the 20th century.
In late 1937, the Japanese army conquered the then capital of China and in the months that followed their occupying force adopted a systemic policy of rape and murder: an estimated 300,000 were killed and as many as 80,000 Chinese women and girls were raped. Thankfully, writer-director Lu Chuan tells the story of this massacre in gorgeous black and white imagery, giving it a documentary feel. I have no doubt that if this movie were shot in color it would be too unbearable to watch in one sitting.
"Life and Death" is broken into two sections. The first shows the fall of Nanking. The Chinese army, cursed with horrible equipment and worse leaders, fights valiantly but is doomed. The Japanese move in and soon...
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