Review of Nanking (2007) by Charles D — 26 Jul 2014

This film must be seen to be believed. Few people have heard of the destruction wrought on what was then the Chinese capital. Even fewer know that the Japanese war criminals who were responsible for ordering the destruction are now venerated as gods in Japan. First, let me put the destruction in perspective. During Japan's virtual annihilation of the city, she killed 200,000 people in six weeks. Even at the height of Nazi efficiency, they only killed people at about a third of that rate. The Japanese were three times more ruthless in killing Chinese as the NAZIS were at killing the Jews at Auschwitz. That'a a sobering thought. Even more sobering is that this film only elucidates the atrocities that took place in ONE CITY in a country of what was, at that time, 650,000,000 people.

The film pulls no punches. We see still photos of the Japanese soldiers holding beheading contests using their katanas. We hear stories told both by the people who suffered and those who inflicted the suffering. We hear the journals of the small band of Westerners who strove to protect the Chinese from the horrible destruction. These words are read by modern-day actors and actresses, and their delivery is spine-tingling. Jürgen Prochnow and Mariel Hemingway are particularly effective portraying John Rabe and Minnie Vautrin. While their performances are nuanced and delivered with skill, the sheer ferocity of what occurred in late 1937 and 1938 in Nanking hits with all the subtlety of a cobalt bomb. There's no sugar at all on the film's coat. Some might argue that this film is anti-Japanese; on the contrary, the film is accurate in a desperately sad way. Japan is at fault for what they did in exactly the same way as Germany is at fault for what they did. The big difference, and the film shows this, is that, while Germany has atoned for its role in the Holocaust, Japan has not. In fact, many Japanese deny it ever happened or accuse the Chinese of exaggerating it.

See it. You NEED to see it and understand. The 200,000 victims, slaughtered at the rate of nearly 5,000 a day by various means, deserve recognition.