City of Life and Death (1 Viewer)

UKReb

Command Sergeant Major
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I don't know whether any of the Brit guys on here watched BBC4 last night but they showed the full uncut version of City of Life and Death.

Now I am a very keen cinephile but was completly unaware of this 2009 Chinese movie of the Nanking Massacre by the Japanese in 1937. Incredibly shot in B&W (and the better for it) beautifully acted by a multilingual cast which with all the extras must have been numbered in their thousands. The first act can be aligned with the opening sequence of Private Ryan as the Chinese army valiantly attempt to hold back the hordes of Japanese troops who have blown holes through Nanking's walls and are advancing through the streets of the city. These action scenes are really some of the best I have seen in a war film. Although compelling watching the second act of Chinese POWs who are shown no mercy by the Japanese and are executed in various horrific ways needs a steel constitution to watch it. A brutal film that depicts the brutal slaughter of thousands of innocent Chinese manages to end on a note of hope that smacks just a little of sanitisation when one considers the Japanese atrocities carried out in the Pacific just five years later.

Nevertheless I consider City of Life and Death to be an important movie-so much so I have just ordered it from Amazon for a snip of a price. Thoroughly recommended but not for your wives or girlfriends.

Reb
 
Reb, I was unaware of this movie, also. Went to youtube and found/watched several sequences. It is very well done and very intense. Will be tracking this one down to watch in it's entirety. Thanks for posting it. -- Al
 
Thanks for posting this Bob; the black and white style just added to the confusion during the combat scenes, I liked the effect it created very much and like you, it was difficult for me to watch parts of this movie at times, very disturbing in it's brutality.

If you haven't seen this movie, you owe it yourself to do so..........
 
Bob, I missed out on seeing this but am going to try and catch it somewhere, sounds very good if as you say a hard watch.

Rob
 
Just checked and it's available on the BBCiPlayer but probably only in the UK and possibly Europe

Cheers

Martyn:)
 
Thanks for posting about this film. It sounds very interesting, I'll have a look.

Paulo
 

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