Review XXIX
City of Life and Death (2009)
While I enjoy reading about history, especially in relation to militia and military warfare, I can't say I know much about the history of the world. In high school, we principally followed national history, and not even to that degree. My last year, we did look more into the history of the world, but the two subjects I remember really well from that class were a basic explanation on the war in Vietnam and the civil war in Syria, and that's only because they were the two subjects I did a project on. I know about the big wars - WWI and WWII - but it really saddens me that I never had the opportunity to study them in high school. Hopefully in my future academic endeavours I will finally take the time to study them, but as of yet, I'm relying on the occasional novel and film. In comes Lu Chuan's Nánjīng! Nánjīng!, or as its known in English-speaking parts of the world, City of Life and Death. The film is about the Battle of Nanjing and the after effects. The film stars (last name first) Gao Yuanyuan, Fan Wei, Qin Lan, Liu Ye, and Nakaizumi Hideo. I'll offer more an explanation on what was happening that resulted in the Battle of Nanjing, but take what I say with a grain of salt because I'll be simplifying what I read in articles on Wikipedia. My apologies beforehand for any mistakes or over-simplified explanations I provide.
Between 1894 and 1895, China was defeated by Japan in the first Sino-Japanese War under the Qing Dynasty, the last imperial dynasty to exist in China. China was forced to hand over territory claims it had in Korea to Japan. China was left struggling with interal rebellion and foreign imperialism, while Japan rose in strength due to its great progress in modernization. Over the course of the next thirty or so years, China abandonded the imperialistic view and the Republic of China was formed. However, many conflicts, including World War I and the Japanese, once again, imposing on the country, as well as internal rebellion, led to it being in a not-so-well-off state. Japan saw opportunity to expand into China as it was rich in raw goods, so, in 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria (Northeast China) and "small" fights continued over the course of six years. It was in 1937 that Japanese and Chinese forces started a full-scale battle in the are of the Marco Polo bridge (a bridge that was an important route to Beijing). Beijing and Tianjin were seized by Japanese forces, and this is when most historians would say the Second Sino-Japanese War started. Nearing the end of 1937, Japan took over Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China at the time (which it would be until the Republic of China became the People's Republic of China in 1945). This brought on what is referred to as the Nanjing Massacre in China and the Nanjing Incident in Japan. This is where the film starts off, so let us begin a new paragraph where I will now talk about the film. Hopefully that explanation wasn't too far off from the reality...
The film starts with Lu Jianxiong (Liu Ye) and several other Chinese soldiers attempt to stop deserting troops from leaving Nanjing, only to be captured by the Japanese army, including superior private (eventually promoted to sergeant) Kadokawa Masao (Nakaizumi Hideo), which has come to capture Nanjing. Most of these soldiers are executed, though two, Shunzi (Zhao Yisui) and a young boy (Liu Bin) survive. They displace to the Nanjing Safety Zone, which was helped run by John Rabe (John Paisley), a Nazi German. However, the zone becomes a hellish place over the course of the year of the Nanjing Massacre.
I guess I should include this in the history area, but anyway... If you were like me and wondering why a Nazi was helping China when, in World War II, Nazi Germany sided with Japan, this happens pre-WWII and at the time, China was receiving support from Germany, the United States, and Russia. Kind of strange when you think about what followed two years later... Anyway, I can't say if the film followed a completely accurate view on the war, but it definitely captures the fear and violence that happened. Whether it be with the constant humilation of both the men and women, the meaningless killing of innocent civilians... It's definitely not an up-lifting film, but I thought it did a wonderful job getting the story across to even a noob historian like me. While many people sent death threats to Lu Chuan for portraying a sympathetic Japanese (Nakaizumi Himeo's character), I thought it provided a good view as well. I'm probably being naive in assuming that not everyone could be that bad, but whenever I see a film that bashes one side, I always feel a little guilty... Not to say what the Japanese did is excusable, but I'm sure not everyone took pleasure in killing men, women, and children and defiling their corpses.
The film does not skimp out on the horrible details, however, and it can be quite shocking to watch. When you realise how rape and the killing of the innocent is a leading factor in the Nanjing Massacre, and even in all warfare, it makes you feel sick. City of Life and Death demonstrates the sacrifices people went through to save the ones they loved, and it's heart breaking to think that just because of the country they born in meant they were to be punished for something they had nothing to do with. Sorry for generalising...
I'd give the film seven point nine stars on ten. I thought the cinematography was stunning, and I thought the characters were very real. It was always a little strange hearing German and English in the film on occasion, but I thought it was amazing that they incorporated that in as well. Even the fact that the film was, let's say, half Chinese half Japanese. Considering it was a film made a Chinese man, I thought it was great that both sides were portrayed. Anyway, the film was very well done, as shocking as it was, and if you're looking to watch a good historical war film, I'd definitely recommend this one.
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