City of Life and Death

City of Life and Death is a feature film about the Rape of Nanking. You can read more about the film here.
I'm not able to express how I feel about the film, although I can say that I'm glad that I watched it. It was obviously a very heavy movie, and in simple terms, I suppose it would be similar to a Jewish person watching the Oscar winning film, Schindler's List, however you want to take that statement.
The film seemed to continue and continue, but I think that it was just that one story would be complete, you felt like you had a sufficient picture of the events and then Lu Chuan would begin another story shedding light on another angle to the events of the massacre. This is not to say that he looks at all angles and all with the same amount of depth, but those stories that he decided to tell were carefully selected and other parts which, to me are inherently understood and potentially unbearable to watch more of were treated with care. It was obvious, and as discussed in the film's subsequent Q&A with Lu Chuan that there was a full comprehension to the events that took place. I don't think that there was an attempt to deny certain aspects of the massacre and even decisions such as choosing to film in black and white were made to convey emotions and truths the the events that took place.
The film did extremely well in wide-release in China, although understandably so, with a level of controversy. I was most impressed with Lu Chuan's Q&A and his ability to speak about his film, his intents, meanings and aspirations. He managed to turn some absolutely useless comments/questions into moments of insight and expressed his wishes to further explore humanity. Congratulations.
I would highly recommend this film, although pleading with some to keep an open mind and cautioning others that the subject matter may be too difficult to handle.

*postscript - funkaoshi is more eloquent than I am*

- picture courtesy of www.tiff09.ca