The Chinese hate the Japanese, this is the word on the street. I am guessing a film about the plunder of Nanking will not smooth the situation over, but it may make for an exciting and emotionally charged documentary. We get the news about the upcoming film NANKING from the Caves of Yahoo:
“Nanking,” a U.S.-made film documenting eyewitness accounts of atrocities committed by Japanese troops in China during World War Two, opened in Beijing on Tuesday, as the two countries struggle to mend strained ties.
The 90-minute movie, co-directed by Oscar-winner Bill Guttentag and producer Dan Sturman, will open in mainland China in general release on July 7, to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Japan’s full-scale invasion of China.
Talk about a day to have a release! The red carpet event will be super charged with emotion as they celebrate the film’s release and remember the 70th anniversary of the invasion. It may be a questionable day to launch the film, but It has to be released some day – might as well do it on a day where the victims are remembered.
This documentary is on my “need to watch” list. I enjoy military documentaries because I find the evolution of warfare to be interesting, and because violence is “the other porno” to us with testosterone. With such tension between China and Japan, it will be good for all of us to start investigating the history of this hatred. China and Japan are key players in the world and I think everyone wants to ensure that they continue to live in peace. Lasting peace can only happen if the past is dealt with, and this begins with discussion.
Hat off to the film maker!!! The Japanese ultra conservatives had been suppressing or stopping anyone, outside of China, who makes any genre of film mentioning the Nanking Massacre of Dec. 13, 1937. They accuse the Chinese inflating the numbers of raped and killed victims. This is not about how many, one victim is still ONE TOO MANY!!! Lately, the Japanese conservatives are doing the same thing to the issue Korean and Philippina sex slaves during the war and colonial occupation, regardless of how many!!! The German acknowledged the atrocity that Nazi inflicted to many during the war and apologized, this does not make it right, but it is acceptance of historical facts. Where as the Japanese, no acknowledgment, no apology, they even change their history text books!!!
@ vincent
It’s hard to forgive and forget what happened especially if some Japanese scholars doesn’t acknowledge it and the japanese school system also disregard the real history of World War 2. Just this March 2007, Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe denied sexual slavery that the Japanese committed in WW2.
It’s a known fact here in the Philippines, in China and Korea of their atrocities on women. As long as some Japanese doesn’t acknowledge what really happened it will be hard just to forgive and forget especially if the generation who suffered from them is still among the living and passes their horror stories to younger generation.
Not every single Chinese hates Japanese, but ya most of Chinese aren’t ready to forget and forgive, especially for those who are from the provinces where Japanese invaded in the WWII.
There is a big touchy issue here: the number of people who are killed during the Massacre has been under dispute (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanking_Massacre#Death_toll_estimates). I wonder how they address this.
The Chinese hates Japanese? *blinks* Who said? ;)
Well this is a must-see, if a little bit emotional for my grandparents.
Documentary? That must be some form of dramatized thing, as Juergen Prochnow is named in the cast list – and he is not known for having been around when the Japanese sieged the Siemens factory… I may have a chance to watch it Friday or Saturday, will let you know whether it’s worth the excitement. AND there’s at least two more films about the same Schindler… ahem… John Rabe coming up.