World War II · Film · 2009
City of Life and Death
南京！南京！
Shot in black and white, the fall of Nanking and the weeks that follow, seen through a Chinese officer, the staff of the Safety Zone and a young Japanese soldier who watches it all.
Where it happened
Follow the story across 3 places.
Stop 1: Nanking city walls
Lieutenant Lu tries to stop deserters at the gates, then fights on in the ruined streets until his men are forced to surrender.
Stop 2: Yangtze riverbank, Xiaguan
Chinese prisoners are marched out in columns to be executed; a soldier and a young boy survive and flee.
Stop 3: Nanking Safety Zone
Key location
Inside the zone, Rabe's secretary and a teacher try to protect the refugees as soldiers break in and demand women.
What really happened
After taking Shanghai, the Japanese army advanced on Nanjing, the Nationalist capital, and captured it on 13 December 1937. Tens of thousands of Chinese soldiers who had surrendered or discarded their uniforms were rounded up and shot, many along the Yangtze at Xiaguan, and over six weeks soldiers killed civilians and raped women across the city; estimates of the dead run from over 200,000 to 300,000.
About 20 Westerners, led by the German businessman John Rabe, ran a Safety Zone in the west of the city that sheltered some 250,000 people. Lu Chuan's film mixes real figures such as Rabe and Minnie Vautrin with fictional characters, and caused controversy in China for telling part of the story through a Japanese soldier. It won the Golden Shell at the 2009 San Sebastián festival.
Where to watch
Checking streaming services…
Full details
- Original title
- 南京！南京！
- Directed by
- Lu Chuan
- Countries
- China
- Languages
- Chinese, Japanese, English, German
- Released
- 2009
- Period
- –
- Theaters of war
- China & Southeast Asia
- Themes
- Combat
