Nanjing! Nanjing!

[Outofin]

Douban: 南京！南京！

Youtube trailer

Interview: 陆川：我想拍一个战争本性的东西

在中国不是你想为国家办事，你就会理所应当的很顺利、很得志或者受到很多支持，有时候往往是相反的。”往往是没什么想法的人过得挺滋润，而有想法的人都特痛苦特郁闷。她说“只有你们坚持了，很多愿意帮你们的人才会站出来。因为很多人都想这么做事，但他们不会去做这样的事。但是你们只要坚持，慢慢地你们这支队伍周围就会有人愿意去伸手了。

The movie sounds very promising.

I saw a comment online that she's going to buy tickets for her family but may not have courage to see the movie. Many people feel the same way.

[abcdefg]

I saw "Nanjing, Nanjing" Sunday afternoon here in Kunming. The house was packed. Some people covered their eyes and others left before it was over. Very strong stuff, though well made. I doubt that the film will do much to improve Chinese-Japanese relations.

[skylee]

I saw the film today. I think it is not bad at all, far far far better than 集結號. The production is good, the story ok. I like it that Liu Ye actually just appears in the first part of the film and he hardly has any lines. I mean it is great that such a good young actor is willing to play a supporting role.

Flaws (IMHO) - (1) The chinese in the film (especially Mr Tang) appear too well-nourished, whereas the Japanese soldiers in the film are without exception dark and thin; (2) I think I would prefer a consistent perspective. Not sure what I mean, though. (3) Lack of originality. But this would be very hard to do, I suppose. My kind of "original" filims include "Pulp Fiction", "The Matrix", "Infernal Affairs", "Old Boys", etc. This film, I felt that I was like watching a mix of "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan" (though I think this film should have shown more killing, more deaths to justify the "300,000 deaths" dedication at the start). Some audience in the cinema actually cursed when the camera shook a bit too violently. haha. But I liked that.

There are two shots that I like very much. One is when Kadokawa (actually I think this Japanese role/actor is the leading man) walks up to a platform to look down at the dead bodies on the shore. The other is the Japanese dance rituals. They look very good in just black and white. They would be very strong if there were colours.

Overall a film well worth watching.

[atitarev]

I watched a documentary in full on dvd511.com, I think. It was about the Nanjing massacre, John Rabe, Minnie Vautrin and other organisers of the safety zone. Unfortunately, I can't find the link now and I don't remember the name, it must be called "The Rape of Nanking", 2007?

It's worth watching to understand the facts, what really happened in Nanjing. Perhaps it can be considered one-sided, there's hardly a human face of Japanese to be seen ...

[Outofin]

From what I read from the media and on the web, this movie is well perceived by general public but is also controversial among netizens. Very controversial, actually it's been hard to escape from this movie. It must be very silly if Lu Chuan wasn't fully prepared for all these when he decided to touch this sensitive subject.

I think telling the story through a Japanese soldier's eyes is okay. No, I don't really know until I see the movie. I certainly didn't like "The Reader", the Nazi story. I thought that movie was very evil.

[atitarev]

I hope it won't stir more tensions between China and Japan. But if the movie is truthful, it is important. "The rape of Nanking" was all based on facts but the reaction was negative. Even the translators into Japanese were pressurised.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rape_of_Nanking_(book)#Reaction_in_Japan

[skylee]

I certainly didn't like "The Reader", the Nazi story. I thought that movie was very evil.

Why?

[abcdefg]

I just saw the "John Rabe" movie (拉贝日记.) Thought it would be interesting to find out how it compared with "Nanjing, Nanjing" which I saw a couple weeks ago. "Rabe" was more "theatrical" and less "documentary" for one thing. It had less "shock effect" and was less "raw." Also had a happy ending tacked on which seemed a bit artificial. The theater (in Kunming) was almost empty instead of being almost full as it was for "Nanjing, Nanjing."

The main news I wanted to pass along, however, is that this movie has English subtitles. That was a pleasant surprise for me since my Chinese is still pretty rudimentary.

[Outofin]

@skylee

The first half of the movie tries to cultivate a great affection and deep connection with the leading female role. After that, it tells what terrible thing she did. I’m curious how audience will respond to the question if the verdict was just,

A. No, because…

B. Yes, but

C. Yes

What I imagine is that, many would choose C being told the court case, but may choose A or B after watching the movie. I’m not fully confident on this speculation, but if that's true, I would say this movie is misleading.

I’m not the only one. Film critics weren’t nice to this movie.

[roddy]

That's nice and clear, thanks.

[gato]

That's nice and clear, thanks.

You've adopted the Chinese comma.

[skylee]

The first half of the movie tries to cultivate a great affection and deep connection with the leading female role. After that, it tells what terrible thing she did. I’m curious how audience will respond to the question if the verdict was just,

Who/which is the leading female role? Mrs Tang? What verdict? Are we talking about the same film?

[Outofin]

Who/which is the leading female role? Mrs Tang? What verdict? Are we talking about the same film?

No we're not. You were asking why I didn't like "The Reader".

[skylee]

Oh I see. Sorry. I totally forgot my own question.

Regarding the Reader, I think the whole thing was very unfortunate. The verdict was right. But so was what one of the students said - almost everyone was guilty back then. I think the film was not misleading as it ends on the note of the camp survivor. (I still find it hard to believe that that is Lena Olin. I mean she was so different, so beautiful in the Unbearable Lightness of Being. But it was 20 years ago and time beats everyone.)

Regarding Nanjing Nanjing, I've just read some very critical comments in a local English magazine, saying the film is misleading, saying that it's no good to show that the Japanese soldiers (or one Japanese soldier) have/has some conscience tucked deeply somewhere inside during wartime. You might feel the same if you think the Reader is evil (I guess you feel quite strongly as evil is a strong word).

[atitarev]

...saying that it's no good to show that the Japanese soldiers (or one Japanese soldier) have/has some conscience tucked deeply somewhere inside during wartime

That's too common during the war, isn't it? Even if they felt sorry for victims, they may not have the guts to resist their commanders.

[Outofin]

I guess you feel quite strongly as evil is a strong word

Not really, I just...like using strong words.

And up to now I still consider Nanjing Nanjing a good movie becaue many people I trust including you recommend it.

[Pendragon]

Yea excellent movie, well-balanced story.

If the movie leads to anger I just hope it's directed specifically against those that deny or support the atrocities committed by Japan, not against Japan in general.

[Outofin]

Watched it.

Just after I said all online video websites were slow to me, muyongshi posted several links to sohu tv. Well, it works perfectly for me.

You can watch the movie from here http://tv.sohu.com/20090527/n264199426.shtml

Unless you say "I don't care what happened in the war", you should watch it. It's on the level of Spielberg and Eastwood's war movies. I can't fault anything in it.

Lu Chuan has mastered the art of film.

[gato]

Some articles about a screening in Shanghai for local Japanese expats:

http://sh.sina.com.cn/news/s/2009-05-25/0812111981.html

日本人沪上集体看《南京!南京!》问卷反馈热烈

2009年05月25日08:12 东方早报

Lu Chuan's blog entry about the screening with Japanese audience

http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_539a02320100d3gg.html?tj=1

触碰禁忌，推动进步

An article about the difficulty in organizing the screening

http://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2009-06-04/12082549034.shtml

南方周末：日本观众看《南京南京》始末

[Outofin]

I still got a lot to say.

An immediate comparison to this film is 姜文’s 鬼子来了 (Devils on the Doorstep). Jiang Wen as an actor often plays strong-willed and threatening characters. But as a director, his style is surprisingly delicate. Devils on the Doorstep looks very much like a 小品. Jiang Wen doesn’t make comedies, but his films are all fun and smart. From what he has done, he hasn’t demonstrated the ability of handling grand scale epic movies. This is very different from Najing Nanjing.

Devils on the Doorstep even got some positive reviews in Japan. I think it might because the acting and behavior of the Japanese soldiers are very convincing. I can imagine that Japanese audience’s response, “Oh boy, this is so Japanese. That’s what we do.”

One detail I like in Nanjing is that the camera gives a lot of nameless faces each for one or two seconds. The faces look different and their response to their last minutes are different too. This creates a beautiful sculpture feeling. The message is clear and saddening: look at these faces, they are lives.

The movie is too strong. I’m glad I watched it on computer in 2 nights. If I see it in theatre, I would desperately need to breathe some air and take a break in the middle.

I know many just hate the movie because it faked a fictional good Japanese soldier. The movie has two lines. The reason for this setup is obvious – your story is not complete if you skip the Japanese line, who made these things happen. If the director chose to tell from 2 sides, I’d rather to see a fictional good Japanese character instead of a bad one. To say the movie “beautified” invaders is ridiculous. Even when it shows the relaxing moments of the soldiers (quite a lot, by the way), I felt like standing among evils.

However, I think those who can’t emotionally accept the movie have a good point. If you can’t, you can’t. Lu Chuan didn’t handle the criticism professionally and reasonably. For ALL things, you have to put yourself into other’s shoes to understand. This is the first step of communication. But Lu Chuan insisted the criticism was a media scheme, as if others could not think and were not as smart and rational as him, when he could just be confidently speaking for his work. He is too young for this.