Just finished watching this with my husband--he likes war films but has no interest in Chinese culture--I am just the opposite, and will rarely watch a war film but am obsessed with China. We watched "John Rabe" a couple of days ago, and wanted to see the comparison viewpoints.
OK, this is my personal opinion only, but I feel that, in spite of the good intentions and honesty of the film, it wandered...there was not really a clear plot and sections were so slow I had to keep my husband from falling asleep--and this is a guy who LOVES war films. The initial scene of the Japanese taking out the guerrilla soldiers in the church is played out excruciatingly, guns popping, little background music, some confusion as to who is who. I kept wondering when the STORY was going to begin. When, about 40 minutes in, we get to meet a few other characters it is a vast relief! We saw this on Netflix and you should know that the subtitles are about 4-5 seconds behind the actual speeches--I speak some Mandarin, but no Japanese, and was constantly irritated at the uncoordinated subtitling. Also, I wanted to see the connections between the characters made more clear; perhaps a title showing where some of the action was taking place would also have been helpful: "Jinling Women's College","Red-Cross hospital",whatever. I also must say that the John Rabe character seemed sort of wussy and did not at all show the kind of strength he actually exhibited (I have read several books on the Nanjing Massacre, Rabe's diary and how others saw him); Minnie Vautrin, who protected so many women and children at Jinling Women's College and personally stood up to Fukuda over the taking of their husbands/sons, etc. was merely a loud-mouthed white woman who seemed in the way at times--in real life,the Chinese women under her care called her the Goddess of Mercy! The role she should have had in the movie was taken by a fictive character called Miss Jiang, probably based on her assistant Mrs. Tsen.
Anyone knowing anything at all about the Rape of Nanjing will wonder about the violence in the movie--this is not a gore-fest or a movie where the violence is displayed as a fetish, like in so many modern movies, but yes, it IS realistic, so be prepared. The director does not spare you in showing the atrocities, but the view of them is not drawn out unbearably and the detail is somewhat muted: no brains flying out, no close-ups of splattered heads, but you do see the lengths the Japanese went to, really, similar to an 'ethnic cleansing', and there is one rape scene that is pretty disturbing, but you don't really see much- -it's the emotional impact that gets you. There are also plenty of scenes dealing with the 'comfort women' that the officers insisted on, and, though a few of them were prostitutes already, most were simply women that were chosen for their looks and grabbed unwillingly. There is also a lot of callous violence against the Chinese citizenry that is simply excessive, even for a war.
Another mention for those who are, like myself, for whatever reason, China-lovers: one of the main characters is a young Japanese soldier who is seen in an almost sympathetic light, as opposed to the majority of them, who do what they do with pleasure and seem to have no human connection at all, not even to the dazed 'comfort women' they literally rape to death. Mr. Tang, who is a fictive figure representing the Chinese assistant to John Rabe, is another character who does what he can to protect his family, but you may not like how he works, and certainly his karma catches up with him pretty quickly. I understand that the director was trying to see things fairly: not all Japanese soldiers were monsters, not all Chinese were saintly martyrs, but I do think too much time was spent on the 'nice' Japanese soldier. The Westerners in the film needed more development, especially considering they role they played in setting up the Safety Zone and protecting so many Chinese--they seemed superfluous and rather powerless in this movie, and that was unfortunate. Yes, it's a Chinese film, but in purporting to give a truthful presentation of facts, fair is fair and Rabe, Minnie Vautrin, Dr. Robert Wilson and Lewis Smythe were minimized to almost nothing here.
The film is slow at times, meandering, has confusing moments and, I think, assumes the viewer is familiar with the history of the era. I believe it needed more dramatic flow, a tighter script, and perhaps more detailed characterizations of the main people; a lot of film footage could have been used better than those first tedious 40-minutes of "battle" time. It is a disturbing film that does show some of the atrocities, but does not go overboard--it is a movie that can be used for enlightenment as well as entertainment of a sort. I still believe a serious viewer needs to do some reading on this subject before they watch, in order to have a sense of what is really going on. Sometimes Chinese movies can be a little maudlin and over-dramatic (though I generally enjoy this!), but there is a good balance in the emotional scenes, and only one towards the end that may be a little much for some people. I did love the Chinese soldiers, just before death, shouting Long Live China!, and there is, even in this intense war film, moments of hope that linger in the heart. I recommend this film to anyone who loves China, who is interested in war, who wants to know some of the real story, who loves intense and honest film-making.
OK, this is my personal opinion only, but I feel that, in spite of the good intentions and honesty of the film, it wandered...there was not really a clear plot and sections were so slow I had to keep my husband from falling asleep--and this is a guy who LOVES war films. The initial scene of the Japanese taking out the guerrilla soldiers in the church is played out excruciatingly, guns popping, little background music, some confusion as to who is who. I kept wondering when the STORY was going to begin. When, about 40 minutes in, we get to meet a few other characters it is a vast relief! We saw this on Netflix and you should know that the subtitles are about 4-5 seconds behind the actual speeches--I speak some Mandarin, but no Japanese, and was constantly irritated at the uncoordinated subtitling. Also, I wanted to see the connections between the characters made more clear; perhaps a title showing where some of the action was taking place would also have been helpful: "Jinling Women's College","Red-Cross hospital",whatever. I also must say that the John Rabe character seemed sort of wussy and did not at all show the kind of strength he actually exhibited (I have read several books on the Nanjing Massacre, Rabe's diary and how others saw him); Minnie Vautrin, who protected so many women and children at Jinling Women's College and personally stood up to Fukuda over the taking of their husbands/sons, etc. was merely a loud-mouthed white woman who seemed in the way at times--in real life,the Chinese women under her care called her the Goddess of Mercy! The role she should have had in the movie was taken by a fictive character called Miss Jiang, probably based on her assistant Mrs. Tsen.
Anyone knowing anything at all about the Rape of Nanjing will wonder about the violence in the movie--this is not a gore-fest or a movie where the violence is displayed as a fetish, like in so many modern movies, but yes, it IS realistic, so be prepared. The director does not spare you in showing the atrocities, but the view of them is not drawn out unbearably and the detail is somewhat muted: no brains flying out, no close-ups of splattered heads, but you do see the lengths the Japanese went to, really, similar to an 'ethnic cleansing', and there is one rape scene that is pretty disturbing, but you don't really see much- -it's the emotional impact that gets you. There are also plenty of scenes dealing with the 'comfort women' that the officers insisted on, and, though a few of them were prostitutes already, most were simply women that were chosen for their looks and grabbed unwillingly. There is also a lot of callous violence against the Chinese citizenry that is simply excessive, even for a war.
Another mention for those who are, like myself, for whatever reason, China-lovers: one of the main characters is a young Japanese soldier who is seen in an almost sympathetic light, as opposed to the majority of them, who do what they do with pleasure and seem to have no human connection at all, not even to the dazed 'comfort women' they literally rape to death. Mr. Tang, who is a fictive figure representing the Chinese assistant to John Rabe, is another character who does what he can to protect his family, but you may not like how he works, and certainly his karma catches up with him pretty quickly. I understand that the director was trying to see things fairly: not all Japanese soldiers were monsters, not all Chinese were saintly martyrs, but I do think too much time was spent on the 'nice' Japanese soldier. The Westerners in the film needed more development, especially considering they role they played in setting up the Safety Zone and protecting so many Chinese--they seemed superfluous and rather powerless in this movie, and that was unfortunate. Yes, it's a Chinese film, but in purporting to give a truthful presentation of facts, fair is fair and Rabe, Minnie Vautrin, Dr. Robert Wilson and Lewis Smythe were minimized to almost nothing here.
The film is slow at times, meandering, has confusing moments and, I think, assumes the viewer is familiar with the history of the era. I believe it needed more dramatic flow, a tighter script, and perhaps more detailed characterizations of the main people; a lot of film footage could have been used better than those first tedious 40-minutes of "battle" time. It is a disturbing film that does show some of the atrocities, but does not go overboard--it is a movie that can be used for enlightenment as well as entertainment of a sort. I still believe a serious viewer needs to do some reading on this subject before they watch, in order to have a sense of what is really going on. Sometimes Chinese movies can be a little maudlin and over-dramatic (though I generally enjoy this!), but there is a good balance in the emotional scenes, and only one towards the end that may be a little much for some people. I did love the Chinese soldiers, just before death, shouting Long Live China!, and there is, even in this intense war film, moments of hope that linger in the heart. I recommend this film to anyone who loves China, who is interested in war, who wants to know some of the real story, who loves intense and honest film-making.