When we think about the atrocities committed during World War II, most people would remember the Holocaust, but this war was fought on multiple fronts, not just the West, and one of the most notorious incidents was the Rape of Nanjing. City of Life and Death depicts the massacre in black and white through various perspectives, which proved to be controversial considering some Japanese soldiers were depicted with sympathy, but it drives home the horror, the devastation, the terrible reality of the evil unfurled in the war. City of Life and Death is truly harrowing. The only consolation is that Nanjing thrives today as the Jiangsu province’s capital.
"One of the most powerful films you'll ever see. Literally unforgettable."
— Matt Bochenski
In 1937, during the height of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Imperial Japanese Army has just captured Nanjing, then-capital of the Republic of China. What followed was known as the Nanking Massacre, or the Rape of Nanking, a six week period wherein tens of thousands of Chinese soldiers and civilians were killed.
Nanjing, 1937. After Japanese forces occupy the former Chinese capital, a band of soldiers are sent to comb the city to kill the remaining combatants, and discover the terrified refugees hiding in the Nanjing Safety Zone.
I feel like it’s black and white only to spare us the red blood, but it’s still terribly harrowing to watch.
God, I hope that the events of this film will never happen again.
LAFCA
1 win, 1 nomination
