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Ye Liu, Gao Yuanyuan, Hideo Nakaizumi, Wei Fan, Jiang Yiyan ... see more see more... , Ryu Kohata , Liu Bin , John Paisley , Beverly Peckous , Qin Lan , Sam Voutas , Yao Di , Zhao Yisui , Yuko Miyamoto , Yuanyuan Gao

Within the scope of Asian history, few events carry the ugly and sickening connotations of the Rape of Nanking. Japanese forces invaded that Chinese city on December 9, 1937, and in the six weeks to f... read more read more...ollow, soldiers raped thousands of women and annihilated hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians. Director Lu Chuan directs this black-and-white docudrama account of that horrifying six-week period, with the benefit of an ensemble cast that includes Hideo Nakaizumi as a conscience-stricken Japanese soldier, Fan Wei as the aid to a German humanitarian worker, and Gao Yuanyuan as the head of a refugee camp. Lu relays the events directly and straightforwardly, with a careful avoidance of sensationalism and excessive sentimentality, and uses the chronicle to meditate on the insanity of war for all of those involved. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Flixster Users

84% liked it

2,996 ratings

Critics

93% liked it

46 critics

R, 2 hr. 13 min.

Directed by: Chuan Lu

Release Date: May 11, 2011

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DVD Release Date: October 25, 2011

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Stats: 268 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (268)

  • garyX
    March 6, 2012
    garyX
    A refugee camp comes under siege from the Japanese army during the fall of Nanjing during the Second World War. Beautifully shot in black and white and telling the harrowing story of the mass murder and horrific mistreatment of the population of the Chinese capital, City Of Life ... read moreAnd Death can be seen as China's equivalent to Schindler's List but I'd have to say that Spielberg's classic at least had a tale of heroism at its centre. The horrifying events depicted here have more in common with the likes of Downfall; the environment of Nanjing is so hellish, the closest we come to a "good guy" is a Nazi! Based on true events, I'm not sure how much of it is completely accurate as even this hardened cynic found it hard to believe that only a single Japanese soldier acted with conscience or compassion, but Hideo Nakaizumi's performance as the aforementioned protagonist, sickened and traumatised by the actions of his compatriots works well as a way to avoid demonizing the Japanese and as an objective standpoint through which to view the events as they unfold. One of those films that's powerful rather than enjoyable, City Of Life And Death is another in the line of beautifully crafted testaments to man's seemingly infinite capacity for inhumanity.
  • flixsterman
    February 20, 2012
    flixsterman
    Once in a great while a film comes along that is not only brilliant and artistic but meaningfully important. This is one of those films.
  • DragonEyeMorrison
    February 8, 2012
    DragonEyeMorrison
    Seeing through the eyes of a confused japanese soldier, and several chinese civilians, City of Life and Death knows how to balance all the visual information that provides to the audience. The exploration of the japanese side could have been better. Nothing groundbreaking here, b... read moreut still quite engaging to watch.
  • EightThirty
    January 19, 2012
    EightThirty
    20/01/2012 (NetFlix, PS3)
  • Alireza64ir
    August 18, 2010
    Alireza64ir
    City of Life and Death is a shocking and disturbing chinese movie.Technically is terrific,specially in some parts such as in beginning,action scenes and Japanese soldiers parade in last minutes.Its much better than boring german version(John Rabe) which followed the same history ... read moreevent.Although it doesnt affect us deeply.Director chose easy way to make a shocking movie.Despite of remarkable achievements which werent few,movie is mostly filled with killing,screaming,raping,grieving and shooting.Maybe it required more dialogues and slower rhythm.
  • gator681
    May 15, 2011
    gator681
    Let's be honest. Sometimes, we have to stare into the abyss to confront the evil there is in the world without any sentimentality to comfort us. "City of Life and Death" is a prime example in its stunning exploration of the horrors of the Japanese occupation of Nanking in 1937-... read more1938, filmed in black and white with a masterful use of close-ups. This starts with the Japanese army taking the 1000-year old city after a three day fight with the Chinese troops fleeing in their wake.(Any Chinese soldiers captured are shot.) Chinese partisans put up a fight but they are eventually overwhelmed. That leaves the only protection for refugeees in the hands of Nazi industrialist John Rabe(John Paisley) and his ragtag volunteers.

    And then what are we to make of Sgt. Kadokawa(Hideo Nakaizumi), a sympathetic Japanese soldier? While it is probable that not all Japanese soldiers were monsters(I think the operative phrase is: not what I signed up for), this is still an odd point of view for the audience to take. That's not to mention the character possessing a naivete on the subject of human relations that might strain credibility if it did not also mirror the protectors' belief that they can continue unharmed by the Japanese soldiers just outside their gates in a time and place that will call for sacrifices.
  • josephcurdy1
    January 19, 2011
    josephcurdy1
    You haven't heard of it? That's a good sign. Sometimes great art takes a long time to be appreciated. This is a stunning, harrowing, cinema verite look at the 1937 Japanese invasion of Beijing's capital city, Nanking. Historians estimate as many as 20,000 Chinese women in Nanking... read more were periodically raped by the occupying Japanese army, with a staggering 300,000 Chinese civilians executed.

    Shot in black-and-white and filmed over a period of 4 years, this is a stunning achievement by any standard in cinema and as disturbing as COME AND SEE and SCHINDLER'S LIST. Highly recommended...
  • fb20312798
    October 31, 2011
    fb20312798
    I like that it manages to walk the line of showing the brutality inflicted by the Japanese against the Chinese in Nanking, while not demonizing them, which would be easy given the horrific scope of what occurred. It does demonstrate how difficult it is to make a film about genoci... read morede. Show too little and you risk downplaying what happened, show too much and you risk alienating your audience. "City of Life and Death" is, from a technical standpoint, very well made and it portrays the Rape of Nanking probably as historically accurate as possible in terms of how the day to day events occurred. Unfortunately the film does suffer from a tremendous amount of characters, and I don't think the time between them is evenly distributed. Also the film moves rather suddenly from the military conquest of Nanking to the genocide of civilians and captured solders without a real examination as to why the Japanese were pushed to such brutal extremes.
  • danieljparsons
    October 30, 2011
    danieljparsons
    Review soon
  • bcavros
    November 25, 2011
    bcavros
    A very gut wrenching movie. Somewhere between Schindler's list-1993 and group of puppies run over by a rotating lawnmower in slow motion. A movie once seen will never be forgotten.

    This movie does an excellent job of capturing the huge scale of war/the massacre while focusing ... read moreon the emotions/pathos of several characters.

    For example, The women of Nanking are graphically raped by wandering platoons of Japanese soldiers. To resist this the women cut their hair and give up any guise of femininity. The Japanese demand 100 the same women serve as prostitutes for 3 week otherwise their children will starve and go without heat. We get to see thousands of Japanese soldiers are given 15 minutes a piece to use the Chinese women. The dead nude Chinese women are stacked in wheel barrels to be dumped.

    Its really hard for me to recommend this movie. If you really don't understand the horrors of war and think its a 1950's WWII movie you should see it.

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Critic Reviews

Tom Long
October 7, 2011
Tom Long, Detroit News

It is not an easy film, and perhaps a touch too relentless, but it is a great reminder of how bloody, mad and awful this world can be. Full Review

David Lewis
September 22, 2011
David Lewis, San Francisco Chronicle

Lu Chuan makes this feature film soar by telling the story both through the eyes of the Japanese occupiers and the defenseless Chinese civilians in the ancient capital. It makes the savagery all the m... Full Review

Peter Rainer
June 24, 2011
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor

Here, in bloodless miniature, is the true obscenity of war. Full Review

Colin Covert
June 23, 2011
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune

Lu tells the heartbreaking, nearly unbearable story with compassion, controlled fury and unflinching realism. Full Review

Kenneth Turan
June 17, 2011
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

It's a film strong enough to change your life, if you can bear to watch it at all. Full Review

Joe Morgenstern
June 16, 2011
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

This is hardly a film to recommend as entertainment. As an act of remembrance, though, it is singular and, in its way, soaring. Full Review

Michael O'Sullivan
June 10, 2011
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post

It's a muscular, physical movie, pieced together from arresting imagery and revelatory gestures, large and small. Full Review

Wesley Morris
June 3, 2011
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe

Lu does more with the first 50 minutes than some directors accomplish in 10 movies. Full Review

J. Hoberman
May 11, 2011
J. Hoberman, Village Voice

Lu's distinction lies in the cinematic virtuosity he brings to orchestrating carnage, the calculated attention he pays to human interest, and the globalist, universalizing attitude inherent in both. Full Review

Stephen Whitty
May 11, 2011
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger

Directed by Lu Chuan, it's a fascinating film, and an unusual entry in the current Chinese cinema. Full Review

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