City of Life and Death

Holy crap dude. I've been on the lookout for good Chinese movies recently (kung-fu movies are awesome but don't really count) and I came across "City of Life and Death." It's a beast of a movie.



It's about the Rape of Nanking in World War 2. Let me tell you, I knew it was bad but actually seeing the brutality on film is something else. Really eye-opening. It wasn't a fiesta of Chinese nationalism like I expected either. I thought it was fairly balanced in its depiction. It focuses on the Chinese civilians and soldiers as well as the Japanese. Most of the Japanese are portrayed in a negative light just as they deserve but there is one Japanese soldier who is I guess what you would call the sympathetic character since he's an alright guy but he is forced into the events of the war. Not sure if I'm making sense. Anyway, it's very violent and loaded with blood and gore, rape, vulgar language, and all that jib jab. Beware. Check it out!