I probably wouldn't have much to say if I just watched this movie as a regular audience. Perhaps because I am a Chinese, it is impossible not to have any national sentiment, which makes us think this film is thought-provoking. I don't want to say whether this movie is good or bad, because the actual effects brought by a movie with a good idea are not necessarily all good.
The director clearly sees the suffering of the victim nation as pain, and the struggle of the aggressor nation is a wake-up call. Only through the war in the eyes of the soldiers of the fascist countries can we realize that the war is life and death. It is easy to get used to the thinking mode of killing to stop killing if you watch too many emotional films of victims, and anti-war should not be ethnically colored. Let people abandon the barriers of national borders and history, and look at war and death with human nature. The war itself is desperate and tragic, and there is no high-spirited sword to cut the devils' heads. War films should not be catalysts for national sentiment, but tombstones of remembrance and reflection.
Maybe we have watched too many "Chinese-style" anti-Japanese war movies and TV dramas since childhood, in which the Japanese army is often cruel and stupid, indifferent and inhuman. The monstrous crimes committed by the Japanese army against our aggression are unquestionable, and each of us Chinese sons and daughters should keep it in mind. But we must remember that remembering history and cherishing peace is the goal.
"It's really ironic. I promised myself that I would fight to the death for my family, but when I think about my family, it's hard to keep my promise." As Lieutenant General Ribayashi said, soldiers of any country pretend to be home and country, even those of Japan. The militarism that develops their soldiers in the direction of war machines cannot erase the most basic emotions of being a human being.
Finally, I would like to say that such a theme is indeed the goal we should pursue together, but the more ideal things are often the more cruel.
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