Film review: City of Life and Death

CITY OF LIFE AND DEATH (15)DIRECTED BY: LU CHUANSTARRING: LIU YE, NAKAIZUMI HIDEO, FAN WEI* * * *

THE "Rape of Nanking," which saw the Japanese imperial army decimate China's then-capital and slaughter 200,000 of its inhabitants, was the most disgraceful and notorious atrocity of the Sino-Japanese war of 1937-1938. It's an emotive subject, but Chinese director Lu Chuan's City of Life and Death does a remarkable job of presenting that atrocity without falling into the traps war films frequently tumble into.

Shot in stark black-and-white, it presents a harrowing, all-encompassing dramatisation of the events that weaves historical facts, personal testimonies and indiscriminate destruction into a rich tapestry of terror seen from multiple viewpoints, among them the Chinese rebels who tried to fight back, as well as the victims of all ages who lost their lives and, controversially, some of the Japanese perpetrators. Lu's roving camera captures the epically choreographed carnage with an admirably matter-of-fact eye that avoids artificially amplifying the action and detracting from the full-scale horror. It's a tough watch, but it will leave you stunned in a way that war films don't often manage.

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