As im new to this forum do forgive me for starting a thread about a film and one that officially is not about WW2 as it takes place in 1937/38. the film is about the japanese taking of nanking and the subsequent attrocitites that occured . My question is has anyone seen it and if so do they believe it is fairly acurate to the real situation ? i only ask as i have limited knowledge of this action as all i really knew of it was i had heard of the rape of nanking and that the japenese had killed many people but according to the film 300,000 were killed but as i believe this is a chinese film im not entirely sure how accurate this is(propaganda etc) ? anyhow it is a thoroughly encapsuating film and well worth watching in my opinion. phil
You need to purchase Iris Chang's book "The Rape of Nanjing" and you will find the truth of the event. I have seen several specials and movies and her book is the most complete account I have found. I don't believe it is possible to truly illustrate the event, it was worse than any human could or can imagine. An American missionary smuggled films out of China because America was not at war with Japan yet. My father's Unit was shown the movies before going into the Pacific in 1942 and it was something beyond belief. Here are but a hand full of accurate and honest reports, photos and images of the Rape Of Nanjing. http://www.rapeofnanking.info/ http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/nanking.htm http://www.nanking-massacre.com/RAPE_OF_NANKING_OR_NANJING_MASSACRE_1937.html http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-rape-of-nanking/
I went on Amazon and purchase a copy of City of life and Death they are not cheap, but you can purchase used copies. The one I purchased is used but like new. I have done this before with excellent results. A new copy of the movie can go for a few bucks this was the last one at $7.99. When I get it, and it may take sometime because it is a discount deal, I will then let you know what I can about the movie. I have watched and have copies of both of these movies about Nanjing. When I get to watch the one I just ordered I will post it here for you. http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Movies/2010/0611/Based-on-the-true-story-of-John-Rabe-movie-review http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0893356/
I saw this at the cinema, and thought it was excellent. The subject matter meant that it was also harrowing. From what I could find online, it appeared to be accurate. I did read that the only criticism that it received in China was that it included a sympathetic Japanese character.
Dear Gibbo Today, 01:39 PM #4 (permalink) Gibbo Thank you for sharing your experience you are the first person I have met who actually saw this film. Some people can not handle these kind of evils and that is understandable, but then some don't want to know or be reminded. That troubles me because it could happen again. Africa has been full of terrible massacres over the last few decades. Uganda, Rwanda, Liberia and other countries in Africa have been murdering each other for some years.
Sorry i should have been clearer , i have watched it and thought it was superbly done but was unsure if it had been overdone as i believe it is a chineses made film and yes there is a decent japanese soldier in the film . i only bought it as i was waiting for my little boy to chose a dvd in tescos and it was only £4 so i thought id give it a go. needless to say my little boy hasnt watched it . I have to admit it has opened up a whole new interest for me in the war against japan as i like many always looked at it as a bit of a side show to the main campaign in europe . many thanks for your replys . phil
I read a true account of one woman who was raped at Nanjing and became pregnant, she had a little boy. Neither she or her family could help but love the little boy and gave him a good home. He grew up Chinese not knowing until he was older how he was conceived.
I saw this film, terribly harrowing and troubling. However an excellent account of such horrific events. I'm not sure how to articulate this further really as once you see the film you sort of understand why.
I agree Swiper, when you read or watch or view things like this or on this site Massacres and Atrocities of WWII in the Pacific Region it is hard to understand how a person could do such things to other human beings and not be troubled. There is one documented case of a German soldier who could not be a part of shooting innocent citizens in the Eastern Theater, he threw his helmet down and lined up with the citizens. He was shot. If I can find the site and photo I will post it.
Here is the story of the German soldier who refused to kill innocent civilians and died with them. http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/23/jozefschultzpu2.jpg Big Lebowski 07-31-2006, 07:24 AM thx to Gauntlet (from the FH forums) for translating and posting this i think this is a truly touching story It's a real touching story, and it shows what I belive is one of the greatest heroes of the Second World War. I just read this in a weekend magazine of a Norwegian newspapers. Its about a young soldier named Joseph Schultz. I will try to translate as good as I can. This picture shows a young German soldier walking to his own death. A death by execution conducted by his own brothers in arms Jospeh Schultz was a German soldier on the Eastern Front. On the 20th of July 1941, he along with seven of his brothers in arms were sent out on what they thought to be a routine mission. After a short march they soon understood that they were on a quite different mission than what they were used to: Ahead of them, they saw fourteen captured local civilians who were blindfolded , positioned up against a wall. The 8 soldiers in Schultz platoon were halted 10-15 meters away, and an NCO ordered them to execute every one of the civilian. Seven of the soldiers took aim, and in the silence that followed you could only hear the sound of a rifle beeing dropped. Jospeh Schultz disobeyed a direct order, dropped his rifle and walked slowly towards the 14 civilians which only heard cautious footsteps in the grass infront of them. The young Schultz positioned himself together with the soon-to-be executed civilians, and choosed death instead of killing hopeless civilians. A few seconds later 14 civilians and 1 German soldier laid dead in the grass. He was executed by his own brothers in arms by order of the NCO. This action shows that its actually possible to do evil things. Its possible to be a free-thinking morally human-being no matter what is happening around you. But, no other of his 7 brothers in arms followed his example. It was no revolt. No large-scale deserting. This is no hero-story. Neither a story about a victim. No-one was saved by Joseph Schultz action. Everyone were shot. Everyone plus one more. But he was a moral example. He refused to fire because its wrong to fire. It was no different on how many that were shot. But it was a difference to him. And to us. http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/23/jozefschultzpu2.jpg
Swiper, I just done watching City of Life and Death and your statement " saw this film, terribly harrowing and troubling. However an excellent account of such horrific events. I'm not sure how to articulate this further really as once you see the film you sort of understand why." says it all. It was another way of telling the story, the other two movies should be seen too. Too much happened for one movie or person to tell it all in one movie. I can not understand, and hope I never do, how people can treat another group of people so badly, so terribly and live with themselves afterwards. __________________
Gregg, it would be wonderful if you could find more on sources for the story you told above. Not that I don't believe it, but an episode like this needs as much corroboration as possible.
You can check it out yourself. Let us know what you find out, I quickly did a search and found some other sites pretty much saying the same thing. It would be interesting to see what you can find out and we would have a view of the story from two sources. http://www.keene.edu/cchs/videosalpha.cfm?Video_ID=955 http://www.assaultweb.net/forums/showthread.php?t=131156 http://www.morningstarr.co.uk/forum/general-discussion/33676-picture-young-german-soldier-conscience.html http://tomasatlarge.blogspot.com/2010/05/one-soldiers-mind.html
