Nanking (2007) Movie Review

This is a real incident, with real testimony, and a real war between the Japanese and Chinese in the Second Sino-Japanese war on 13 December 2007 – Nanking massacre. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians and disarmed Chinese soldiers were murdered in 6-week period of time. This movie is actually a documentary featuring the personal experiences of the Chinese survivors, as well as the foreigners who set up the Nanking safety zone to protect the remaining Chinese civilians in the city.

One of the most touching moment was an account by a Chinese survivor, who recounted his days when the Japanese troops tried to kill his mother with a knife but his mother continue to breast-feed his sister, where the latter was still a baby, knowing nothing about the war. The typical humming sounds produced by Japanese “Zero” fighter jets were the nightmares of innocent Chinese civilians living there.

However, concerned foreigners worked in Nanking at that time like German businessman and doctors who tried to set up a refugee camp to protect the Chinese civilians from Japanese troops. This movie also includes the personal experiences of retired Japanese soldiers who served in the Imperial Japanese army. They had recalled what they had done during the war including sexual assault to Chinese women, without hold back anything. I can say that the content of the movie is balanced because it takes into account both sides of the conflict Chinese civilians and Japanese soldiers in the war.

I recommend this movie to all readers who would like to learn more about Nanking massacre because it documented all the testimonies and real incidents of Nanking massacre at that time. This is also a good movie that remind of people about the extent of damage that a war can bring.