Review of John Rabe (2009) by Ray S — 26 Sep 2010

A pretty good flic. The story centers around a German businessman & member of the Nazi Party living in Nanjing (Nanking), China in 1937 & 1938. Nanjing was the war-time capital of China. Japan has invaded/conquered Shanghai & is marching upon Nanjing. Rabe is preparing to leave Nanjing; but recognizes the danger to his employees & the residents of Nanjing. He chooses to stay and help setup & administer a safety zone w/in the city. Abt 200,000 people survived the invasion & Japanese occupation of Nanjing. This, abt a 7 to 8 wk period, & the later continued occupation, is now known as the Rape of Nanking. It is estimated that over 300,000 people were murdered. And, many thousands of Chinese women/girls were viciously raped.

All the principal actors were very good. This is a German film. Steve Buscemi gives a good performance as an American doctor wrkng in Nanjing. He and the Nazi, Rabe, come to get along & wrk to help the people of Nanjing.

Although, many of Rabes employees at Siemens, have learned to speak German; Rabe, who has been in China for abt 30 yrs, has not bothered to learn Chinese. He is depicted as a very colonial occupier sort of character. He relates to even his close employees w/ an attitude of condescension. Still, this guy did act to save many thousands of lives.

The story held my interest. The violence, including decapitations, was not terribly bloody or gruesome. But, it was moving/disturbing. A better film for understanding this event is a documentary, NANKING, 2007.