One thing you need to know is that
the main killers of the Nanjing Massacre are the 6th and 16th Divisions of Japan. The following is the general introduction of the two divisions and the approximate time of their operations in China: (The following information can be obtained from major websites. Know)
The 6th Division (from September to December 13th, 37 years from the official operation to Nanjing, roughly 3 months):
On July 28th, 1937, Japan issued an order for the 6th Division to invade China. On August 1, more than 25,000 officers and soldiers of the 6th Division, which had been fully replenished, embarked on the sixth invasion of China amid the hysterical drumming of Kumamoto citizens. After arriving in China, he was immediately incorporated into the 1st Army of the "North Branch" Front Army. The division forcibly crossed the Yongding River on September 14, occupied Zhuozhou on the 18th, Baoding on the 24th, and Zhengding on October 8th. Along the way, the officers and soldiers of the 6th Division, under the connivance of Gu Shoufu, burned, murdered and committed adultery.
The 16th Division (from September to December 13, 1937):
Nakajima Jin Zhaowu, who served as the commander of the 16th Division in August 1937, led his troops to invade China. The 16th Division of Nakashima was different from other Japanese troops encircling Nanjing. It neither landed from Hangzhou Bay nor pursued from Shanghai, but landed from Tianjin Dagu in September 1937. Participated in the North China operation, and then returned to Dalian to rest and prepare to reinforce the Japanese army fighting in Shanghai. On November 14, when the 16th Division landed at Baimaokou on the Yangtze River, Shanghai had already fallen. After the order to pursue Nanjing was issued, the 16th Division, as a branch of the East Road, along the Nanjing-Shanghai Railway and nearby highways, moved to Changshu, Wuxi, Changzhou, Danyang, Jurong, Tangshan, Qilinmen, and Xianhemen to approach Nanjing Zhongshanmen. , Purple Mountain first-line. During this period, massacres and atrocities also followed. At least 2,000 Chinese civilians were killed. The 9th Regiment of Katagiri Goro occupied Changzhou. The atrocities resumed, and more than 4,000 Chinese civilians were killed. On the road to Nanjing, every time the Japanese army invaded a village, they must first massacre all the villagers before camping in the village. Before leaving, the village was completely burned down.
From the above information, we can know that the two Japanese troops had already experienced a series of actions such as brutal fighting, massacre, looting and so on for three months before entering Nanjing. 99.9999% of humanity will basically be wiped out in these three months of slaughter, abuse, and looting in this asymmetric war.
Please be sure to know that three months of fighting will not be completely dehumanizing. After all, on the battlefield, you die or I live, but three months of high-frequency massacres, rapes, and looting in the face of unresisted people can make Humanity to the greatest extent possible.
Human nature is complicated. I believe that there may be a struggle between thoughts and conscience at the very beginning of the massacre or something, but let me ask, if you have had such an experience for three months, and faced with civilians, soldiers, women and children, how would you feel? Is there such a complex feeling? After these three months, those who can persevere already think that this is an indulgence of desire. Conscience, kindness has long been forgotten.
For the Japanese at that time, the Nanjing massacre three months after the invasion of China was just an expanded version of the massacres in Wuxi, Changzhou, and Suzhou. If we have to talk about human nature and conscience, it should be most likely in Wuxi, Changzhou, etc. The place where the massacre had just begun, and Nanjing in December was already numb to the Japanese in 2 divisions. .
At the end, the Japanese committed suicide, in my opinion, it is a little unreal. Rather than committing suicide, it is more shocking and real to change from evil to good, or from good to evil. It can also more profoundly show the destruction of human nature by war.
From teachers to beasts, it is more real and profound.
In addition, Kadokawa in the movie will be considered an outlier in his own camp no matter what era or war he is in. Since it is heterogeneous, it is the details. The idea of thinking about the whole war from this alien point of view is really not safe enough. The first is not real enough; the second is misunderstanding. If you have to shoot like this, the name of the movie is not qualified to be called "Nanjing Nanjing".
Lu Chuan is on the sidelines of the sword both inside and outside the play
In the play, the whole incident is viewed from a "heterogeneous" perspective, the course of Kadokawa is analyzed, and he takes a slant, but it is easy to cause blurring of the characters of mainstream Japanese characters in the overall situation, especially for the audiences who are not at war. It is easy to see the leopard, causing a kind of vagueness and doubt, they were all ordinary Japanese young people before, and their lives were similar, why only Kadokawa committed suicide?
Outside the play, Lu Chuan talked about wanting to release it in Japan, and maybe he still wanted to be on par with Schindler. In order to release it in Japan, he might compromise a little in the shooting, weaken the massacre of civilians, and shoot from the strange angle of Kadokawa.
Unfortunately, he may have overlooked two points:
1. Japan is different from Germany. Germany has already recognized that history, and that history has brought them reflection. However, Japan has not officially recognized this history, especially the Nanjing Massacre. Just imagine, how can it be possible to release a history that the Japanese have not recognized in Japan?
2. In the war, the most condemned by the world is the massacre of civilians, women and children. The second is the massacre of prisoners of war. Humanity's response is more easily resonated and sublimated in the massacre of civilians, women and children, but Lu Chuan has weakened this point.
Some things may have been given up in order to be released in Japan, but unfortunately, the purpose of the film is to make it for the world to see, not only for the Japanese, especially those Japanese who have not recognized the history (in fact, they also will not watch films that they think are slandering themselves).
And those things that are given up can be part of the real essence of the movie.
View more about City of Life and Death reviews