Massacre in the City of Life and Death
(originally published in Retrospect Journal) Nanking, 1937. Second Sino-Japanese War. The capital of the Republic of China has been captured by the Japanese Army, and what would happen next was one of the most terrifying massacres of modern human history. Director Lu Chuan has been able to rediscover China’s past in his film, making it accessible to all through his deeply emotional, black and white, highly-graphic portrait of the massacre. Dialogues are short and scarce, but the strength of the imagery covers for and exceeds what any dialogue could provide. The film explicitly depicts mass extermination, rape and continuous and conscious violation of human rights; thus having a strong character is compulsory for watching the film without breaking down emotionally. Despite its controversy in China regarding the sympathetic portrayal of Kadokawa, one of the Japanese officials, the film perfectly captures the atmosphere of the moment: the brutality of the Japanese forces, the hopele