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67.160.130.12
I've seen the contenders, but this Chinese film, in the first 15 minutes, raises the bar. What makes it all the more remarkable is that the fighting is urban close quarters: the fight for the old Chinese capital of Nanking during WWII. The Japanese, of course, prevailed.
In this huge budget Chinese film that was a box office smash (around the world, I don't think it found a distributor here), Japanese soldiers are shown massacring, raping, and pillaging after Nangking fell in a very short time. The story centers on a young Japanese sergeant and his gradual dehumanization as he first observes and then participates. Within the occupied city, some of the women had been protected by the German ambassador (the Nazis were friendly both to the Chinese and the Japanese prior to the invasion of China), but as he is forced to flee, their position becomes dependent on the good will of the Japanese commander and the influence the Chinese liaison to the Germans can wield.
That key Chinese official, Mr. Tang, and his wife and children, become additional focal points for the story. As they become increasingly alarmed by the cold-blooded murder of the civilian males, a further horror becomes evident: the Japanese force captured females to become "comfort women:" they are forced into prostitution, expected to serve man after man ( 15-minute frame is considered, "normal") until shock, infection, or internal injuries cause death.
Earlier, possibly the most horrific scenes ever filmed, masses of POWs are mercilessly executed in variously different ways, i.e. drowning, live burial, burning, machine-gunned, exploded by grenades, bayoneted.
This film hasn't won many awards, even in China, because not long after its initial popularity, some Chinese began to protest over the fact that the director chose to focus so much on the Japanese soldier and his friend: though they perform absolutely brutal acts, they are also shown as human beings (making it even more horrific, to my eyes).
This is not the artistic equal of the masterworks of some Russians or of Kubrick, and others, but it has a greater impact because of its extremely powerful cinematography and the fact that so much of the violence is systematically perpetrated on defenseless women.
Strongly recommended.
Follow Ups:
That's something no one should watch. A previous contender had been that ridiculous mess "Saving Ryan's Privates".
Say NO to war movies.
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We must be the change we wish to see in the world. -Gandhi
GW
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Edits: 02/27/18
one of the funniest I've seen in years; "Kung Fu Hustle"
GW
Great movie indeed.
We'll have to agree to disagree about global warming until the next global cooling scare comes along
When I was visiting Vietnam a few years ago I watched a fair amount of Chinese channels--documentaries and such. It largely centered around "China's victory" over Japan. Never mentioned the fact that China failed and it was America's victory.
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We must be the change we wish to see in the world. -Gandhi
from China about its two devastating earthquakes of the past decades.
Was there in China the same KZ´s and will to kill millions of people? Organized massacres?
Was there. yo learn nothing Tin you are the definitive anti-Semitic old goad.
strong supporter of Israel, the Holocaust is a great vehicle for deflecting hardships visited upon the Palestinians.
And you seemed to miss my point: it was the Japanese that were vicious, very similar in their genocide to the Germans.
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We must be the change we wish to see in the world. -Gandhi
sdf
...Which is is a click or two under 500,000. Then rape and murder 300,000 of its men, woman and children. How about that for a lottery win? It was 4 years before the attack at Pearl Harbor (Most Americans will never let that go, rightfully I'll posit). The world powers did nothing. The Japanese have never really stood up and accepted the colossal guilt for the crimes. Maybe these film makers made this film just to remind people with selective memories, that genocide is unacceptable, and that justice for those crimes have no expiration date. Then again, maybe this is like the torture porn films that the US industry cranks out like sausage for its dull witted masses, ie...Nanking equals big box office, who knows? Your lottery comment sound disingenuous, speaking more of an animus towards the Chinese economic dominance, than a criticism about the legitimacy of the film's theme. In a world where these crimes still occur with frequency, a film like this has important value. That's a Ferrari they earned the pink slip for. That being said, I couldn't bear to sit through a film like this. Too upsetting.
They probably think Pearl Harbor was a greater humanitarian disaster when it actually wasn't.
Pearl who?
How many people died as a result of 9/11 vs. as a result of Pearl Harbor?
Americans such as you against Muslims, in general? I see NO evidence of any forgetfulness, sorry. I doubt among your righty radical friends you see any of it, either.
n
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Edits: 02/27/18
many works I've seen have made such films.
But even if they had, is it that unusual? How many Vietnam films has the US produced? Hell, Iraq is still going on and we've had more than a few, as well. And.... Clint Eastwood not long ago directed two war films about our dust-up with the Japanese. Our losses in the Pacific were miniscule compared to those of China.
It must be something else that's bothering you about the Chinese. Loss of an outsourced job, perhaps?
just more than China could make movies of their incursions and barbarism.
Am I a masochist? No I won´t see it. The last german film about that german engineer* was enough for me.
*John Rabe.
dfs
Just called me nazi on FB, and now you....
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