This grim and depressing black-and-white drama explores the Rape of Nanking and is told from the point of view of the oppressed Chinese trapped within the city (oh, and from the point of view of one of the occupying Japanese soldiers too, purely for balance). As a film, it occupies the same kind of gut-wrenching worthy territory as SCHINDLER'S LIST, depicting a series of increasingly harrowing events in which violence is meted out as a matter of normality.
I always find such films hard to enjoy, and I hardly want to watch them again after sitting through them. Nevertheless, they exist purely to tell their story and to ensure that such pivotal moments in history are never forgotten.
CITY OF LIFE AND DEATH gets everything right: the direction, which emulates a cinema verite style on occasion, is highly effective and the narrative consists of just the right scope. The acting, too, is of a high calibre and the ensuing drama is as gritty and disturbing as you'd expect given the subject matter; there's certainly no sugar coating here.
I always find such films hard to enjoy, and I hardly want to watch them again after sitting through them. Nevertheless, they exist purely to tell their story and to ensure that such pivotal moments in history are never forgotten.
CITY OF LIFE AND DEATH gets everything right: the direction, which emulates a cinema verite style on occasion, is highly effective and the narrative consists of just the right scope. The acting, too, is of a high calibre and the ensuing drama is as gritty and disturbing as you'd expect given the subject matter; there's certainly no sugar coating here.