SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Adeel Hail Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Calum Hutton It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

poe426 It was during the American Civil War that the Truth was driven home like a wooden stake through a vampire's heart: target the civilian population, engage in a "scorched earth" policy, and you'll shorten the war. But has it ever been otherwise? History suggests it's always been the norm. Not long ago, I watched a documentary about a photographer who had gone to Africa and returned with some of the most horrific photos imaginable. There were the usual atrocities, drought, etc.,- but the most shocking photo, which turned out to have been recorded on video as well, showed a human being literally reduced to skeletal proportions crawling slowly along a dirt road. One couldn't help but feel for the man... and then the documentary revealed that this man and other members of his tribe had butchered and beheaded and dismembered all the members of another tribe... the tribe that had been responsible for farming and providing food for everyone in the region. When the U.$. invaded Afghanistan, Afghanistan was said to be "the POOREST country on Earth." "The enemy creates a desert," someone says in the documentary NANKING, "and calls it Peace." Also in NANKING, we're told that those Chinese with Money and Means were able to avoid the horrors visited on the rest of the population- "the poorest of the poor," who couldn't AFFORD to flee (Katrina, anyone?). It's ironic, indeed, that one of the Chinese benefactors was a devout Nazi sympathizer; ironic, too, that it was the United $tate$ itself that supplied the Japanese with war supplies. The Japanese strategy in Nanking was summed up by "the three Alls: Kill All, Burn All, Loot All." (The exact same strategy employed by the U.$. in The American War- in Vietnam...) Says one missionary: "During this time, we really felt that we were contending with the powers of evil." ("Axis of Evil," anyone?) "I can see little indication of God," one wrote. (And these writings, as powerful as they are, are somehow LESS powerful when read by Actors so very far removed from the Reality; better it had been a narrator- or at least Actors kept off-camera.) It was indeed infuriating to see the unrepentant old Japanese war criminals fondly recalling the atrocities they committed (see the documentary THE ACT OF KILLING to see this kind of jerking come full circle) and some of the revelations about their depredations were truly startling- for instance, that they raped young BOYS when young Girls weren't available... and the (eye-witnessed) act of NECROPHELIA. (Did you know that General Patton left Nazi guards on duty at some of the "liberated" concentration camps during World War Two? How's THAT for a War Hero? Gung Ho Gung Ho Gung Ho...) As for the Japanese, they just "wanted no witnesses."

sddavis63 It is a shame that the "Rape of Nanking" is not more widely known, and it is - quite frankly - equally a shame that there are still a lot of apologists who try to deny that the Japanese Army would have done such a thing, or that the horror was exaggerated. I've done enough reading and research on this subject to find it impossible to excuse the Japanese soldiers who participated or to deny that the events occurred. That is historical revisionism at its worst and most offensive. And, yes, war crimes have been committed by all sides in all wars, but to use that as an excuse to criticize this documentary for being biased is ridiculous. This documentary seeks to lay out the facts of the events that occurred when the Japanese occupied Nanking, China in 1937. Why it should make reference to what the Americans have done in Guatemala (or any other example of war crimes) is beyond me. That's like saying that you can't make a documentary about the great boxer Joe Louis without making mention of Mike Tyson. The subject matter is related, but one story isn't at all relevant to the other.This is emotionally wrenching stuff. It's a pretty simple format. Directors Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman use diaries, letters etc. written by Westerners living in Nanking during the occupation as the basis for the documentary. Those westerners (and some Japanese and Chinese) are portrayed by actors (most notably Woody Harrelson, Mariel Hemingway and Jurgen Prochnow) with actor Mark Valley acting as a sort of narrator. There are also accounts offered by some of the Chinese who survived the atrocities. These are woven together by actual film footage of what happened, and it all adds up to something that sometimes sickens the viewers as we hear the accounts of innocent Chinese men, women and children being bayoneted and shot, along, of course, with the heartwrenching accounts of girls as young as 10 being savagely raped by Japanese soldiers. The Japanese slogan "Burn All - Kill All - Loot All" was very appropriate, and yet perhaps even too gentle in comparison to what actually happened. One account in particular - offered by a Chinese survivor who described the horrific deaths of his mother and baby brother - made me need to pause this and take a break. That rarely happens to me. I was also taken aback by the testimony of one of the Japanese solders (now an old man) who spoke about what had happened and who seemed to be chuckling as he described the rapes, and who admitted that it shouldn't have happened, apparently because - in his words - "if both of them aren't into it, what's the point." That was the extent of his remorse? That "both of them weren't into it?"This is also inspiring, though. It's basically a tribute to those westerners who tried to set up a "Safety Zone" in Nanking, where Chinese refugees could come for safety and medical care and where the westerners did everything they could (not always successfully) to keep the Japanese troops out. It was a strange group of westerners, made up mostly of American missionaries and Nazi businessmen, who joined together and worked together because of their disgust for what they observed. Especially interesting among these folks - to me at least - was the story of John Rabe, a Nazi businessman who seems to have believed in the goodness of Hitler and who believed Hitler would want to help. As the eventual fates of the westerners are revealed, we're told that when he finally returned to Germany he sent a letter and films of the carnage to Hitler with a request for help, only to find himself arrested by the Gestapo for his efforts. We're then told that he was arrested by the Soviets after the war and ultimately found himself in dire poverty, only to be helped by the citizens of Nanking, who sent him money because they remembered his kindness to them and his efforts on their behalf. In a way, Rabe resembles the "Oskar Schindler" of China. And yet, westerners aren't described or portrayed as glamorous. The ones this movie is dedicated to are given a deserving tribute, but the disinterest of their governments in what was happening is noted, especially with the word "the world stood silent."The Japanese invasion of China was really for all intents and purposes the beginning of World War II, since it became a significant battleground in the War that we usually think of having begun with the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939, but it often gets little historical attention. This documentary helps to fill in that gap. It is truly superb. (10/10)

Claudio Carvalho In 1937, the Japanese army invades China in a cruel war and after the fall of Shanghai, the soldiers head to the capital Nanking. A group of Western foreigners led by John Rabe, Minnie Vautrin, Bob Wilson and George Fitch create the Safety Zone, a sanctuary that was not bombed by the Japanese airplanes, to protect thousands of refugees. While the Japanese soldiers reach the town on 13 December 1937, raping, slaughtering and pillaging the civilian, the heroic group of Westerns defends the lives of about 250,000 Chinese sacrificing their own freedom, and succeeds to tell the world the crimes of war committed by the Japanese army in Nanking.The harrowing, heartbreaking and awesome "Nanking" retells the story of the genocide in Nanking in 1937 promoted by the Japanese army. In the late 90's I saw the also impressive and disturbing "Nanjing 1937" (a.k.a. "Don't Cry, Nanking") and I confess that was the first time I heard anything about this massacre. In the movie "Shake Hands with the Devil", the Canadian General Romeo Dellaire has a fantastic line when he says that "genocide is when there are cargo train, concentration camps, gas chambers". In Hollywood, usually genocide is associated to the Jews in World War II and there are dozens of excellent movies about this dark period of the contemporary history. "Nanking" uses letters and other documents written mainly by the group of Westerns that created the Safety Zone in touching and emotional lectures of great actors and actresses; disturbing and heartbreaking testimonies of survivors; a great number of footages, in a magnificent work of research; and the wonderful music score of Kronos Quartet. I immediately associated how traumatic might have been the lives of these survivors after witnessing such cruel crimes of war. Further, in Nanking there were Westerns observers that told the world part of what happened in the city; imagine in Shanghai and in the minor towns in the countryside on the way of the Japanese troops without foreign witnesses how violent these soldiers might have been with the population. These group of expatriated shows the difference that an individual can make. I was really disturbed and sad after watching this fantastic movie. My vote is nine.Title (Brazil): Not AvailableNote: On 24 May 2013 I saw this documentary again.

joaosantos20 This is a really must see documentary. It portrays a fact not well known and that should not ever be forgotten and instead should be remembered forever. It is not violent in itself, it just tells a story, real people and their tragic live story's. Of course it's shocking but so were their lives. It shows us how mankind can be cruel and vicious for no apparent reason, how someone can make others suffer in the way that it happened is horrendous. Great cast of actors, but the real central piece are the life real testimonies of the survivors. Some stories that should never have happened.What were those soldiers thinking, and the persons in charge of Japan at the time.You must see to comprehend, and everyone should see in order that no one has to live trough that ever again.