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 hopeless Chinese captives, and the permanent impotence of the International Red Cross to provide a safety zone. Lu Chuan also situates the film in its wider historical context, with tensions running high in Europe, through the character of Mr. Rabe, a German businessman and Nazi Party member running the Nanking Safety Zone. The increasingly aggressive and unstable nature of the Nazi regime is made obvious when Mr. Rabe is asked by his superiors to return home due to the growing affinity of the Germans and the Japanese. The realm of international politics is suddenly confronted with the most humane aspects of reality: the destinies of Mr. Rabe’s secretary, Tang, as well as that of most of the Chinese civilians living in the Safety Zone, are left in the hands of the Japanese soldiers.
Tang’s personal story is truly powerful not only because of his brilliant character development but because he encompasses the whole sentiment of the Chinese population captive in Nanking. Constant uncertainty and fear of death are perfectly captured by the permanent background of shootings and misery. Atrocities keep recurring, and the film ends in an unstable equilibrium: the surviving civilians flew, but their hopes to survive are naive; the war has just started.
Highly captivating, the film constitutes an accessible historical account of the massacre. Despite its fictional approach, Lu Chuan interviewed several Japanese soldiers who occupied Nanking, and characters such as the German businessman, Mr. Rabe, are based on historical ones. Historians still lack enough information concerning aspects such as the total death toll as many secret records were destroyed after the defeat of Japan in 1945. Lu Chuan has been able to rediscover China’s past by revisiting one of their most shocking episodes; the atrocities committed by the Japanese are depicted to their full extent and without any censorship, but a sympathetic approach to the Japanese as more than simply ‘monstrous’ is also embedded through the character of Kadokawa. Thus, the film brings back to the table an episode of the Sino-Japanese relations which is still highly contentious in modern historiography. It is through chronicles such as City of Life and Death that modern audiences, and even more those alien to the history of the region, can start to discover and dig into their past.
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 hopeless Chinese captives, and the permanent impotence of the International Red Cross to provide a safety zone. Lu Chuan also situates the film in its wider historical context, with tensions running high in Europe, through the character of Mr. Rabe, a German businessman and Nazi Party member running the Nanking Safety Zone. The increasingly aggressive and unstable nature of the Nazi regime is made obvious when Mr. Rabe is asked by his superiors to return home due to the growing affinity of the Germans and the Japanese. The realm of international politics is suddenly confronted with the most humane aspects of reality: the destinies of Mr. Rabe’s secretary, Tang, as well as that of most of the Chinese civilians living in the Safety Zone, are left in the hands of the Japanese soldiers.
Tang’s personal story is truly powerful not only because of his brilliant character development but because he encompasses the whole sentiment of the Chinese population captive in Nanking. Constant uncertainty and fear of death are perfectly captured by the permanent background of shootings and misery. Atrocities keep recurring, and the film ends in an unstable equilibrium: the surviving civilians flew, but their hopes to survive are naive; the war has just started.
Highly captivating, the film constitutes an accessible historical account of the massacre. Despite its fictional approach, Lu Chuan interviewed several Japanese soldiers who occupied Nanking, and characters such as the German businessman, Mr. Rabe, are based on historical ones. Historians still lack enough information concerning aspects such as the total death toll as many secret records were destroyed after the defeat of Japan in 1945. Lu Chuan has been able to rediscover China’s past by revisiting one of their most shocking episodes; the atrocities committed by the Japanese are depicted to their full extent and without any censorship, but a sympathetic approach to the Japanese as more than simply ‘monstrous’ is also embedded through the character of Kadokawa. Thus, the film brings back to the table an episode of the Sino-Japanese relations which is still highly contentious in modern historiography. It is through chronicles such as City of Life and Death that modern audiences, and even more those alien to the history of the region, can start to discover and dig into their past.
Most graphical movie I've ever watched. I'd rather cut my thumb than watch it again.
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