Nanjing, China 1937. Japanese forces invade this once-capital of the Republic of China on December 9th. Throughout the following six weeks, soldiers raped thousands of women and annihilated hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians – with mass executions; crowds mown down by firing squads, and victims digging their own graves. Few events carry the ugly and sickening connotations of what has become known as the ‘Rape of Nanking’. Director Lu Chuan tells the horrifying story through several figures, including a conscience-stricken Japanese soldier and John Rabe, a Nazi businessman who would ultimately save thousands of Chinese civilians’ lives.
Film Crew
- : Lu Chuan
- : Din Hong
- : Han Sanping
- : Lu Chuan
- : Cad Yu
- : Yun Teng
- : Lai Qizhen
- : Tong Liu
Technical Information
- Black & White
- Chinese
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Trailer
Moving story of the Japanese invasion of Nanking 1937 and the atrocities committed during the six week campaign of terror that ensued-
Chinese director Lu Chuan wrenches the 1937 Rape Of Nanking from historical footnote to cinematic headliner in this black-and-white depiction of the Sino-Japanese War’s most notorious incident. Victorious Japanese troops, the idealistic Kadokawa (Hideo Nakaizumi) apart, march into China’s capital with brutality in mind, raping and murdering on a barely believable scale.The unfolding events are portrayed with great skill by Chuan, who spares us none of the horror, depositing the viewer in a disorientating maelstrom of violence that recalls Saving Private Ryan and Klimov’s Come And See in its ferocity. Unsanitised and at times almost unwatchable, it burns off the screen.
Phil de Semlyen, Empire Magazine
Beautiful and engaging film. Worth a look.