Nanking [DVD]

I am a high school history teacher. This is one of the most powerful documentaries I have ever seen. The actors used in the film read from memoirs. Some of the personal accounts of survivors from the Rape of Nanking maybe too graphic for young people. However, they still need to know. The United States focusses too much on National Socialist(NAZI) Germany and not enough on atrocities committed by Imperial Japan.

As a 'Western devil' American, I lived in mainland China for almost five years during which time I personally visited Nanjing on more than one occasion, toured the locations and sites set aside to memoralize those thousands of Chinese citizens who lost their lives in horrendous ways during that terrible time period. I have listened to the stories by those who survived, or their surviving family members, seen the tears flow. Have stood on mounds of bones - all that remains of thousands of women, especially, who were systematically sexually violated and/or murdered by the invading forces as well as viewed hundreds of photographs, read the documents and letters both of Chinese and officials/newspaper reports written and published in Japan at the time. It is history. It happened. It cannot and should not be denied. Like Pearl Harbor: Never forget. This film does an excellent job depicting just some of what occurred, but certainly not all - it would be too horrific, even today. To have been in the Japanese military at the time was not a choice for millions of its soldiers. I do not blame them. It was a policy from the highest levels. Those westerners who are depicted, and whose words are uttered by the actors/actresses did yeoman's jobs - physically and emotionally - to assist as they could, to show the world what happened. This film will give anyone who watches it a graphic, but 'understated' view of the events that occurred - there's no denying it.

I think everybody should see this movie. Many people have no concept of what the world endured in World Wars I and II. I think many who push for wars and conflicts who not be so quick to rush to war if they really had a full understanding of the horrors war can bring out in people. The Japanese were every bit as sociopathic in what they did to the Chinese as Hitler was in what he did the the Jews. The actions of the Japanese are almost to grotesque to believe except we know this actually happened. Murder of men and children simply for bayonet and personal amusement. Rape and then "jack the ripper style" murder once they were done with the women. The creation of "Comfort Women" (forced prostitution for the pleasure of Japanese soldiers), mass murder of unarmed civilians.This movie had a profound impact on me and convinced me that no matter what the issue, war is not the answer. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

It is a well made film and well presented. However, I have seen a lot more documented photos about women killed after they were raped and the way they were killed. Many of them with their belly slitted open and insides exposed and some with sticks in their private parts. I was and am always puzzled how a civilized people could be so cruel and savage and yet not to have the courage to admit this hideous crime. My only comment about this film is that it should be made to fit reality. It is my sincere gratitude to the Americans and Europeans involved. Without their courageous and selfless actions, people in Nanking would suffer a lot more. Too bad they could not save any P.O.W.s and manage to stop the killing competition.

I just ordered this DVD, so I can't comment on it by itself. I knew a little bit of what the Japanese army was about prior to WW II, but what I have read about this has me completely stunned. It's no wonder that Japan is no longer allowed to have an army. A people that talked about honor. What honor was there in all that was done? Instead they try to minimize and flat out deny atrocities that were committed.I know that a lot of bad things have happened during wars, but Japan should be so thankful that they're where they're at today. They just can't be allowed to forget.

This film contains many powerful interviews with Nanking survivors. But it also employs actors to play the parts of survivors who died sometime after the war. This technique gave life and emotion to every account. It was a great way to connect the historical footage with the present. An elderly Chinese man recalls watching the Japanese brutally murder his mother and siblings when he was a small boy. Aged Japanese soldiers describe committing atrocities. Professional actors read the accounts, in character, of the Europeans who saved so many Chinese people during the war. The technique of combining actors and actual survivors was very powerful. It's an amazing and haunting film.

A very sad story of how the Japanese treated the Chinese before (1937), during and after the Americans ended it in 1945. It was a Holocaust that nobody recognized. I liked the movie for it's realism but hated the barbarism. The story that had to be told.

Necessary history of war and the associated sociology of groups. It is a sad story of the horrors of war and the depravity of men, but don't stick your head in the sand - war is ugly. As an interesting side note, here is one of the few WWII stories where a NAZI party member actually turns out to be one of the good guys. It is really hard to say that, but truth is often stranger than fiction.

The film - a documentary - tells the story of the Rape of Nanking in 1937. The Japanes had invaded China and as they approached the then capital, Nanking, the European residents there, about a dozen, set up a safe area for refugees. When the Japanese troops entered the city they took anyone who might be a Chinese soldier and killed them. Women and children were raped and murdered. Estimates of the dead range from 150,000 to 300,000. The "safe area" saved around 250,000 people.The film is very well made and tells the story with the help of actors for the western witnesses, using their own words - all of them are now dead. For the Chinese and Japanese viewpoints they found living witnesses and participants. They have chosen not to voice over the interviews but to rely on sub-titles. The emotion that pours from the screen is heartbreaking. For the Chinese they interviewed it was as if it just happened yesterday. I wept.If you can bear to watch it, this is a sobering film. Man's inhumanity to man has rarely been so terribly demonstrated.

I am very intrested in History at school so when I came across this title about the horrors of Nanking of how the Japanese took over of when it was the captail of China and spread total horror during the early years of Second World War. Told by real-life people and actors playing the people involved, this film will affect you by the horrific scenes of violence and dead bodies. It would probably make you cry as it can be tough to watch at times but it's a very good docermenty of the true story. Pefomances from known actors like Stephen Dorff are very good, you feel like you were in there with them witnessing the horrors. I would recommend it for anyone who likes history and learn a different story that occured but be warned, not for those who has a weak stomach and disturbing images are a high in this.

DVD was in German, no subtitles. So, not much use.

Anhand von Film- und Fotodokumenten aus der Zeit vor 1937, aber auch zur Zeit der Besatzung durch die Japanische Armee, wird ein Bild der Stadt Nanking und ihrer verbliebenen Einwohner gezeigt, die den Übergriffen der Besatzer so gut wie schutzlos ausgeliefert waren.Ein kleiner Fluchtort für mehrere Hunderttausend Bewohner war die Internationale Schutzzone, die von dort lebenden europäischen und amerikanischen Ausländern geschaffen wurde, um angesichts der extrem grausamen Übergiffe japanischer Soldaten zu versuchen, das nackte Überleben der restlichen Bevölkerung Nankings zu gewährleisten.Anhand Tagebuchaufzeichnungen, Berichten und auch Foto- und Filmmaterial dieser couragierten Männer und Frauen, wird ebenso deutlich, welches Ausmaß die Massaker in Nanking in kürzester Zeit annahmen und wie schwierig es war, die hilflos ausgelieferten chinesischen Bewohner trotzdem zu schützen, so weit es nur irgend ging.Abgerundet wird diese erschütternde Dokumentation durch Zeitzeugenberichte Überlebender, die das Massaker als Kind oder fast Jugendlicher in allen grausamen Facetten mitmachen mussten.Es ist rührend, wie diese nun alten Menschen angesichts der extrem traumatisierenden Erlebnisse von damals mit solcher Wärme von den ausländischen Helfern sprechen, denen sie nach wie vor so unendlich dankbar sind, noch am Leben zu sein, und die sie im Herzen verehrend tragen wie persönliche Gottheiten.Diese Dokumentation ist sehr gut gemacht, allerdings auch extrem erschütternd. Man vermutet, dass die japanischen Besatzer alleine in Nanking bis zu 300.000 Chinesen in kürzester Zeit auf brutalste Weise ermordet haben, egal, ob Kleinkind, Baby, alter Mensch, Mann, Frau, Soldat oder Jugendlicher. Es hat regelrechte Massenhinrichtungen und Enthauptungswettbewerbe gegeben, von den unzähligen Massenvergewaltigungen kleiner Mädchen bis hin zu alten Frauen ganz zu schweigen.Ohne diese internationale Schutzzone hätten wohl die etwa 250.000 Chinesen, die dort Zuflucht gesucht hatten, auch nicht überlebt.

Geschichtlich sehr Interessant. Die Atombombe der USA auf Hiroshima und Nagasaki soll die Antwort auf Pearl Harbour gewesen sein; sagt man !?. Da Pearl Harbour ein Marinestützpunkt war und ist, war Pearl Harbour ein legitimes Kriegsziel. Hiroshima und Nagasaki eher nicht, weil kaum Militär und kaum Rüstungsindustrie. Aber Nanking könnte den Atombombenabwurf durchaus begründen.