Hello. Haven’t posted on here in ages, but Christ, this was so good I just had to share. It’s… a bit long, so I’ll have to break it in two. Sorry about that. <_<

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CITY OF LIFE AND DEATH

The Rape of Nanking remains one of the most notorious war crimes in history, taking place over several weeks during the Second World War from late 1937 to early 1938 when the Japanese army captured the then Chinese capital. After entering the city the Japanese troops are widely held to have embarked on a period of sustained atrocities against the survivors, looting, raping, carrying out summary executions and wholesale massacres of both prisoners of war and the civilian population. Debate over the precise number of casualties, the nature of the alleged atrocities and the reliability of various witnesses continues to this day; while few Japanese deny anything happened at all, their government has yet to issue an official apology and those right-wing factions who insist the Nanking “Incident” remains a fabrication concocted by the Chinese do command some level of political backing.

With this in mind, one could be forgiven for going into City of Life and Death with some pretty strong preconceptions. Mainland Chinese domestic cinema is not short of blatant propaganda demonising the country’s aggressors; something like On The Mountain of Taihang is enough to make Michael Bay look like a paragon of subtlety, and even Feng Xiaogang’s The Assembly is easily interpreted as a strident call to arms. City… dramatises a period in history only (very) vocal niche concerns insist never took place, where compelling evidence suggests thousands of people suffered appalling brutality on a daily basis. Surely this provides some excuse for the expected syrupy melodrama, stoic nationalist sermonising and outpouring of collective grief?

Yet startlingly, City of Life and Death aims much higher than this. Director Lu Chuan (The Missing Gun, Kekexili) is neither a mouthpiece for the party line nor a firebrand, his previous two films showing a keen eye for the drama, the black humour and the visual poetry in the day-to-day realities of life in two very different environments under the influence of the Communist regime. The Missing Gun followed a single rural policeman trying to find the titular weapon he misplaced and the escalating consequences of his forgetfulness. Kekexili adapted the true story of the volunteer patrolmen hopelessly over-stretched guarding one of the most remote regions on Earth and the poachers who attempt to outwit them.

City of Life and Death broadens the director’s scope to take in a far larger cast, some based on real people, some imagined, from Nazi businessman John Rabe (who helped establish a “safety zone” in the heart of the city and saved countless refugees in the process) to a Chinese resistance fighter leading a beleaguered band of rebels, to a Japanese officer slowly falling apart under the impact of the horrors he stands witness to day by day. A further surprise; unlike previous mainland period pieces, or even recent films dealing with the Nanking Massacre such as the German production John Rabe, it is a true ensemble piece, no-one relegated to a cipher, flower vase or stereotype.

The different stories necessitate some degree of skipping from thread to thread, with major sequences bookended by title cards in the form of postcards from the city. The first stretch is almost deceptively low-key. The opening scenes can be confusing to anyone not schooled in the period and even when the film finds its rhythm there is a feeling of familiarity. An early battle sequence is terrifically directed (comfortably eclipsing The Assembly) yet can’t help but reinforce the impression this is safe ground.

And then the action winds down (it is in fact the only such sequence), and the film transitions brilliantly, terrifyingly, into the real meat of the narrative. So much public outrage over the legitimacy of modern military conflict centres on the legality of either side’s actions, the assumption that thousands of heavily armed men are going to behave

themselves around defenceless non-combatants because this is the only human thing to do. Nanking, like Bosnia or Rwanda after it, entertained no such niceties. The foreign nationals who established the Safety Zone had to plead their case to the occupying Japanese forces day by day, which still did not stop troops from breaking in on a whim to carry off more victims, many of whom never returned. Outside the Zone was hell, by all accounts, with John Rabe and his compatriots able to do little other than document the atrocities.

City of Life and Death’s depiction of these terrifying weeks features some of the most harrowing images ever committed to film. While rarely explicit – this is far from the exploitation cinema of Men Behind The Sun and its ilk – the film hammers home that from this point onwards, all bets are definitely off. The massacres, with thousands of helpless Chinese machine-gunned on an industrial scale, are genuinely shocking for all their relative lack of gore. Even the more character-driven, quieter moments can still reinforce the creeping realisation no-one is safe; a later sequence with women volunteering to sacrifice themselves into prostitution for the Japanese soldiers, or the aftermath of Rabe’s eventual departure from the city in the final reels, are so emotionally draining as to border on unwatchable.

Yet for all this the film never judges, never resorts to didactic life lessons or swelling strings in the background. There is plenty for the Communist regime to approve of – the main Japanese viewpoint is an obvious cry of “What have we done?” – but City… is a world away from the poisonous caricatures of, say, Ip Man. Lu Chuan switches from the massacres to the mundane (scenes of the Japanese troops relaxing as they practice for the ceremony to mark their occupation of the city) and does this with a calm assurance that puts the viewer in mind of Bong Joon-Ho (Memories of Murder, The Host); few directors today can manage to temper absolute horror with such wry black humour.

The film is noticeably short of perfect. The pacing in the opening sequence can seem somewhat intimidating, with some background left unexplained and the title cards difficult to read. Though the sets are rarely less than stunning – the opening battle sequence uses the blasted cityscape to tremendous visual and dynamic effect – the monochrome cinematography is a little too drab and would have benefited from a sharper colour palette with clearer blacks and markedly less grey. The acting hits some unbelievable high notes, particularly from Liu Ye as the resistance leader and comedian Fan Wei as a collaborator with the Nazis in the Safe Zone. Nonetheless, Hideo Nakaizumi as Takada, the Japanese lead, is markedly outclassed. While never jarring or overplayed his performance is simply not up to carrying what is admittedly a fairly obvious stand-in for an entire nation’s act of contrition.

Nonetheless, City of Life and Death is a revelation, comfortably proving mainland Chinese film is more than capable of keeping the Communist regime happy while still producing absolutely terrific cinema. While it is uncertain if this reflects any kind of change in policy from the party or their censors, it is worth noting Lu Chuan received multiple death threats for City’s refusal to demonise the Japanese, yet a member of the Politburo personally intervened to keep the film in theatres. For those viewers who feel they’re up to some of the most heartbreaking cinematic set-pieces in recent memory without the possibility of Hollywood redemption, or exploring the furthest extremes of terror and desperation without resorting to flooding the screen with gore, City of Life and Death ranks among the finest films ever made and comes hugely recommended.

Sounds like this film is a kick in the gut.
Excellently written review, Eight Rooks! And I’m moving it straight to the main page…

Awww, thanks! The Chinese DVD is available from the usual suspects, and it has apparently been picked up for UK release. Not sure about other territories.

It is a hell of a kick in the gut. I wondered if I was gushing too much, but I was really, really impressed. Lu Chuan gets better and better. I don’t want to imply it’s some kind of about-face by the Chinese government vis-a-vis the evil empire of Nippon and it’s not as if it still couldn’t be employed as nationalist rabble-rousing (it’s apparently going on the curriculum (!) ), but it’s still pretty awe-inspiring for all that. I didn’t think much of The Assembly, but this… this is the real deal. Easily one of the best films I’ve seen in years, and up there on my list of all-time favourites. But it is a kick in the gut, right up there with, say, the rape scene from the original graphic novel of The Crow in my book for sheer nerve-shredding horror. While it’s not a criticism as such, I did wonder whether to mention that the relentless assault of some major sequences is probably going to be too much for certain audiences to take… though I guess anyone who’s looked up the subject matter probably has some idea of that going in.

Eight Rooks - May 29, 2009, 9:02pm

Awww, thanks! The Chinese DVD is available from the usual suspects, and it has apparently been picked up for UK release. Not sure about other territories.

It is a hell of a kick in the gut. I wondered if I was gushing too much, but I was really, really impressed. Lu Chuan gets better and better. I don’t want to imply it’s some kind of about-face by the Chinese government vis-a-vis the evil empire of Nippon and it’s not as if it still couldn’t be employed as nationalist rabble-rousing (it’s apparently going on the curriculum (!) ), but it’s still pretty awe-inspiring for all that. I didn’t think much of The Assembly, but this… this is the real deal. Easily one of the best films I’ve seen in years, and up there on my list of all-time favourites. But it is a kick in the gut, right up there with, say, the rape scene from the original graphic novel of The Crow in my book for sheer nerve-shredding horror. While it’s not a criticism as such, I did wonder whether to mention that the relentless assault of some major sequences is probably going to be too much for certain audiences to take… though I guess anyone who’s looked up the subject matter probably has some idea of that going in.

I only watched the first 45 minutes of the film last night (I’ll finish it up after work this evening), but I have to agree with Eight Rooks—very powerful stuff indeed. The gorgeous lensing makes me think of my favorite Japanese and Korean films from the early 60s and the sets and action are second to none. The B&W picture would definitely benefit from some solid blacks, though. A DVD is available for only around $10 at YesAsia, but it is a DVD-5 with the “Face” logo popping up now and then. I went ahead and ordered the $15 version, but I don’t know if it’ll be any different, though…

Glad you approve, Jon. I tend not to mention DVDs much simply because I’m really not the best person to ask about image quality - I’ll watch something from just about any serviceable source - and mainland DVDs in particular tend to be… well, nothing to write home about. There’s no way I could ever write an authoritative technical review, partly because I don’t have the knowledge or the jargon down, and partly because I don’t care that much.

Nonetheless, again, glad you “like” it so far. I was really surprised by that action sequence; almost made me wish he’d just done a straight war epic, it was that good. Still, there’s time.

Right after I ordered the dual-layer version, they go ahead and release a 2-disc version of City of Life and Death, with a 150-minute behind the scenes documentary! I’m not certain whether the bonus material has English subtitles or not…

I have that on the way too… so if you want to wait for confirmation, be my guest. DVD9 over DVD5 doesn’t sway me, but that documentary does.

Eight Rooks - June 30, 2009, 7:59am

I have that on the way too… so if you want to wait for confirmation, be my guest. DVD9 over DVD5 doesn’t sway me, but that documentary does.

Thanks, Eight Rooks, but I’ve already received the single-disc DVD9 - however, if the making of documentary is good enough and has subs…

BTW, I never did watch the dual-layer version all the way through to see whether it has the same annoying pop-up logos like the DVD5, but since it’s put out by the same distributor, I’m pretty certain it does. I’ve seen a lot worse—it’s just more aggravating when they appear over such stunning B&W photography.