Within the scope of Asian history, few events carry the ugly and
sickening connotations of the Rape of Nanking. Japanese forces invaded
that Chinese city on December 9, 1937, and in the six weeks to follow,
soldiers raped thousands of women and annihilated hundreds of thousands
of innocent civilians. Director Lu Chuan directs this black-and-white
docudrama account of that horrifying six-week period, with the benefit
of an ensemble cast that includes Hideo Nakaizumi as a
conscience-stricken
Japanese
soldier, Fan Wei as the aid to a German humanitarian worker, and Gao
Yuanyuan as the head of a refugee camp. Lu relays the events directly
and straightforwardly, with a careful avoidance of sensationalism and
excessive sentimentality, and uses the chronicle to meditate on the
insanity of war for all of those involved.
Directed By: Lu Chuan
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