City of Life and Death

Aroview: This first serious depiction of the atrocities wrought on Chinese refugees and soldiers during the occupation of Nanking is a harrowing, expertly made film distinguished by an unusually sensitive approach to Japan’s role in the horrific 1937 massacre.

Though quick to measure Chinese suffering against the Japanese military’s savagery, the expected chorus of nationalism and self-sacrifice is muted throughout, with much of the narrative dedicated to the interior monologue of a Japanese sergeant, whose morality is tested when confronted by his country’s inexplicable acts of violence. Lucidly shot in black and white, dir. Lu returns with the artful, visceral camerawork of his previous films to also deliver a relatively commercial, high-impact product – the grim, upsetting subject matter notwithstanding.

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