City of Life and Death (2010)

93% of critics liked it
(46 reviews)
84% of users liked it
(2,996 ratings)

Within the scope of Asian history, few events carry the ugly and sickening connotations of the Rape of Nanking. Japanese forces invaded that Chinese city on December 9, 1937, and in the six weeks to follow, soldiers raped thousands of women and annihilated hundreds of thousands of innocent… More Within the scope of Asian history, few events carry the ugly and sickening connotations of the Rape of Nanking. Japanese forces invaded that Chinese city on December 9, 1937, and in the six weeks to follow, soldiers raped thousands of women and annihilated hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians. Director Lu Chuan directs this black-and-white docudrama account of that horrifying six-week period, with the benefit of an ensemble cast that includes Hideo Nakaizumi as a conscience-stricken Japanese soldier, Fan Wei as the aid to a German humanitarian worker, and Gao Yuanyuan as the head of a refugee camp. Lu relays the events directly and straightforwardly, with a careful avoidance of sensationalism and excessive sentimentality, and uses the chronicle to meditate on the insanity of war for all of those involved. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 2 hr. 13 min.
Directed By: Chuan Lu
Written By: Lu Chuan
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: May 11, 2011 Limited
On DVD: Oct 25, 2011
Studio: Cinema Ventures

Critic Reviews

Tom Long, Detroit News
It is not an easy film, and perhaps a touch too relentless, but it is a great reminder of how bloody, mad and awful this world can be.
David Lewis, San Francisco Chronicle
Lu Chuan makes this feature film soar by telling the story both through the eyes of the Japanese occupiers and the defenseless Chinese civilians in the ancient capital. It makes the savagery all the more senseless.
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor
Here, in bloodless miniature, is the true obscenity of war.
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Lu tells the heartbreaking, nearly unbearable story with compassion, controlled fury and unflinching realism.
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
It's a film strong enough to change your life, if you can bear to watch it at all.
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
This is hardly a film to recommend as entertainment. As an act of remembrance, though, it is singular and, in its way, soaring.
Jay Antani, Cinema Writer
...among the greatest war films ever made. Rich in humanist themes and absolutely unflinching in its depiction of the moral chaos and physical violence of war.
Sean Axmaker, Turner Classic Movies Online
City of Life and Death puts a convincing image to the abstract history.
Michael Nordine, Slant Magazine
City of Life and Death's surface is harrowingly beautiful, but it doesn't provide enough ground to glide along for over two hours.
Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Exquisitely shot in black and white, with a rare attention to detail and dramatic complexity, "City of Life and Death" is a timelessly great film that commands our collective attention.
John Hartl, Seattle Times
In almost any form, the story of the Nanking atrocities can leave you profoundly shaken. But Lu Chuan's version may be the most compassionate and emotionally satisfying treatment to date.
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul), St. Paul Pioneer Press
There is real beauty in its effort to comprehend the incomprehensible.
Leonard Maltin, Leonard Maltin's Picks
Chinese filmmaker Chuan Lu has tackled a vast and ambitious subject in City of Life and Death. I knew very little about the siege on Nanjing (or Nanking, as Westerners have long referred to it) in 1937; I feel as if I understand it now, in all...
Tony Medley, Tolucan Times
Despite a puzzling, ridiculously benign view of Japanese sex slaves, this is a brutal depiction of the bestiality of the Japanese Rape of Nanjing that is long overdue.
Andy Klein, Brand X
There is no way to soften the events presented, even though Lu spares us some documented atrocities that are as bad or worse than what we see. The result is both moving and exhausting.
Burl Burlingame, Honolulu Star-Advertiser
A work of grim art told with relentlessly restless curiosity about the human capacity for survival.
Tom Meek, Boston Phoenix
The most visceral war film since Saving Private Ryan - a portrait of the hopeless in the grasp of a sadistic oppressor.
Laura Clifford, rec.arts.movies.reviews
...it is this humanity, standing beside horrific crimes against same, which makes "City of Life and Death" one of the greatest war films.

Read all 18 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

xGary X

A refugee camp comes under siege from the Japanese army during the fall of Nanjing during the Second World War. Beautifully shot in black and white and telling the harrowing story of the mass murder and horrific mistreatment of the population of the Chinese capital, City Of Life And… More
A refugee camp comes under siege from the Japanese army during the fall of Nanjing during the Second World War. Beautifully shot in black and white and telling the harrowing story of the mass murder and horrific mistreatment of the population of the Chinese capital, City Of Life And Death can be seen as China's equivalent to Schindler's List but I'd have to say that Spielberg's classic at least had a tale of heroism at its centre. The horrifying events depicted here have more in common with the likes of Downfall; the environment of Nanjing is so hellish, the closest we come to a "good guy" is a Nazi! Based on true events, I'm not sure how much of it is completely accurate as even this hardened cynic found it hard to believe that only a single Japanese soldier acted with conscience or compassion, but Hideo Nakaizumi's performance as the aforementioned protagonist, sickened and traumatised by the actions of his compatriots works well as a way to avoid demonizing the Japanese and as an objective standpoint through which to view the events as they unfold. One of those films that's powerful rather than enjoyable, City Of Life And Death is another in the line of beautifully crafted testaments to man's seemingly infinite capacity for inhumanity.
Randy T

Once in a great while a film comes along that is not only brilliant and artistic but meaningfully important. This is one of those films.
Tsubaki S

Seeing through the eyes of a confused japanese soldier, and several chinese civilians, City of Life and Death knows how to balance all the visual information that provides to the audience. The exploration of the japanese side could have been better. Nothing groundbreaking here, but… More
Seeing through the eyes of a confused japanese soldier, and several chinese civilians, City of Life and Death knows how to balance all the visual information that provides to the audience. The exploration of the japanese side could have been better. Nothing groundbreaking here, but still quite engaging to watch.
EightThirty .

20/01/2012 (NetFlix, PS3)
Alireza M

City of Life and Death is a shocking and disturbing chinese movie.Technically is terrific,specially in some parts such as in beginning,action scenes and Japanese soldiers parade in last minutes.Its much better than boring german version(John Rabe) which followed the same history… More
City of Life and Death is a shocking and disturbing chinese movie.Technically is terrific,specially in some parts such as in beginning,action scenes and Japanese soldiers parade in last minutes.Its much better than boring german version(John Rabe) which followed the same history event.Although it doesnt affect us deeply.Director chose easy way to make a shocking movie.Despite of remarkable achievements which werent few,movie is mostly filled with killing,screaming,raping,grieving and shooting.Maybe it required more dialogues and slower rhythm.
Walter M

Let's be honest. Sometimes, we have to stare into the abyss to confront the evil there is in the world without any sentimentality to comfort us. "City of Life and Death" is a prime example in its stunning exploration of the horrors of the Japanese occupation of… More
Let's be honest. Sometimes, we have to stare into the abyss to confront the evil there is in the world without any sentimentality to comfort us. "City of Life and Death" is a prime example in its stunning exploration of the horrors of the Japanese occupation of Nanking in 1937-1938, filmed in black and white with a masterful use of close-ups. This starts with the Japanese army taking the 1000-year old city after a three day fight with the Chinese troops fleeing in their wake.(Any Chinese soldiers captured are shot.) Chinese partisans put up a fight but they are eventually overwhelmed. That leaves the only protection for refugeees in the hands of Nazi industrialist John Rabe(John Paisley) and his ragtag volunteers. And then what are we to make of Sgt. Kadokawa(Hideo Nakaizumi), a sympathetic Japanese soldier? While it is probable that not all Japanese soldiers were monsters(I think the operative phrase is: not what I signed up for), this is still an odd point of view for the audience to take. That's not to mention the character possessing a naivete on the subject of human relations that might strain credibility if it did not also mirror the protectors' belief that they can continue unharmed by the Japanese soldiers just outside their gates in a time and place that will call for sacrifices.
Don't Tase M

You haven't heard of it? That's a good sign. Sometimes great art takes a long time to be appreciated. This is a stunning, harrowing, cinema verite look at the 1937 Japanese invasion of Beijing's capital city, Nanking. Historians estimate as many as 20,000 Chinese women… More
You haven't heard of it? That's a good sign. Sometimes great art takes a long time to be appreciated. This is a stunning, harrowing, cinema verite look at the 1937 Japanese invasion of Beijing's capital city, Nanking. Historians estimate as many as 20,000 Chinese women in Nanking were periodically raped by the occupying Japanese army, with a staggering 300,000 Chinese civilians executed. Shot in black-and-white and filmed over a period of 4 years, this is a stunning achievement by any standard in cinema and as disturbing as COME AND SEE and SCHINDLER'S LIST. Highly recommended...
Alec B

I like that it manages to walk the line of showing the brutality inflicted by the Japanese against the Chinese in Nanking, while not demonizing them, which would be easy given the horrific scope of what occurred. It does demonstrate how difficult it is to make a film about genocide.… More
I like that it manages to walk the line of showing the brutality inflicted by the Japanese against the Chinese in Nanking, while not demonizing them, which would be easy given the horrific scope of what occurred. It does demonstrate how difficult it is to make a film about genocide. Show too little and you risk downplaying what happened, show too much and you risk alienating your audience. "City of Life and Death" is, from a technical standpoint, very well made and it portrays the Rape of Nanking probably as historically accurate as possible in terms of how the day to day events occurred. Unfortunately the film does suffer from a tremendous amount of characters, and I don't think the time between them is evenly distributed. Also the film moves rather suddenly from the military conquest of Nanking to the genocide of civilians and captured solders without a real examination as to why the Japanese were pushed to such brutal extremes.
Daniel P

Review soon
Bill C

A very gut wrenching movie. Somewhere between Schindler's list-1993 and group of puppies run over by a rotating lawnmower in slow motion. A movie once seen will never be forgotten. This movie does an excellent job of capturing the huge scale of war/the massacre while focusing… More
A very gut wrenching movie. Somewhere between Schindler's list-1993 and group of puppies run over by a rotating lawnmower in slow motion. A movie once seen will never be forgotten. This movie does an excellent job of capturing the huge scale of war/the massacre while focusing on the emotions/pathos of several characters. For example, The women of Nanking are graphically raped by wandering platoons of Japanese soldiers. To resist this the women cut their hair and give up any guise of femininity. The Japanese demand 100 the same women serve as prostitutes for 3 week otherwise their children will starve and go without heat. We get to see thousands of Japanese soldiers are given 15 minutes a piece to use the Chinese women. The dead nude Chinese women are stacked in wheel barrels to be dumped. Its really hard for me to recommend this movie. If you really don't understand the horrors of war and think its a 1950's WWII movie you should see it.
Francisco G

A movie with some of the most disturbng and powerful imagery ever seen on a war film, that depicts the Najing Rape with extreme accuracy that unfortunently has many technical and script flaws. The editing is messy and too quick at times, contrasting with amazing settings and black and… More
A movie with some of the most disturbng and powerful imagery ever seen on a war film, that depicts the Najing Rape with extreme accuracy that unfortunently has many technical and script flaws. The editing is messy and too quick at times, contrasting with amazing settings and black and white; the characters are bland and I just couldn't feel the connection with their dillemas - if it probably stuck with a more visual narrative movie as it does masterfully at times, avoiding some horrid oneliners and dialogue this would be a landmark in movie history.
Daisy M

Chinese movie City of life and death was a war movie about the occupation of the Japanese soldiers in Nanking in 1937. The beginning showed the battle for the city, from there we witness the fall of Chinese forces. It was a heart breaking story about death and the destruction of the… More
Chinese movie City of life and death was a war movie about the occupation of the Japanese soldiers in Nanking in 1937. The beginning showed the battle for the city, from there we witness the fall of Chinese forces. It was a heart breaking story about death and the destruction of the Chinese people. Also a deeply moving and disturbing movie with war horrors,several frequent rapes scenes, nastiness involving children and pretty much every kind of cruelty you can think of. The director did a great job filming this movie in black and white, it made it more believable and realistic.
Dimitris S

One might raise the hand and question the authenticity of the director's responsibility for executing a precise account of horrifying events,or the sympathy he showed towards Hideo Nakaizumi's role of the Japanese private or maybe giving Gao Yuanyuan her most mature… More
One might raise the hand and question the authenticity of the director's responsibility for executing a precise account of horrifying events,or the sympathy he showed towards Hideo Nakaizumi's role of the Japanese private or maybe giving Gao Yuanyuan her most mature performance to date.Maybe nothing will happen at all and the film will exhume under the roaring blockbusters.Whatever the result will be,Lu Chuan's crescendo is here to stay. Jancso's The Red and the White in pre-WWII Nanking.