"Sometimes living is worse than death". Profound words for such a brutally unflinching movie. I had come across the name of "Nanking massacre" many times in reading of Chinese history but never went into the details of it as I found the holocaust history to be too depressing a read. Years later I did work up the courage to see a film about said historical event but I NEVER EXPECTED IT TO BE LIKE THIS! Seriously, it took sheer willpower on my part not to turn this dramatized version of events off as it was so bad: let me re-phrase that, this is a beautifully shot movie and in stark black and white too it's just that the subject matter is (for the lack of better words) brutally shocking and as depraved as the human (if you can call them that) psyche can get. It really is an assault on the senses so much so that it defies belief that you are watching something that actually happened. I really did want to turn this off after the first few minuets but as I was too shocked to move, I sat through the whole ordeal. OK so I watched this almost a week ago now and I feel I am up to the task of writing about it although I will NOT reiterate the DE-humanizing war crimes depicted.
This film doesn't point fingers (or does it??) by which I mean it does not focus on the good from the bad...or maybe it focuses on the gray??? I don't really want to dwell on it too much. A very powerful and moving film that tells a piece of history that wanted to remain hidden but needed to be told. If you were moved by reading into the Nazi holocaust then seeing or reading about this will not do you any favors but like I said before...this needed to be told. Too brutally shocking for me to recommend with a clear conscience but as an eye opening historical event (for me) it speaks volumes.
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