Good setting, less good movie (6*)
Producing a movie about sensitive historic conflicts is always difficult, since views on the events are usually written from the point of view of the winners of the war or conflict. In this case, the Chinese victims of the horrible massacre at Nanking of 1937.
On the other hand, the losing party (the Japanese in this case) might have difficulties admitting the brutalities and bestialities that happened. Coming to terms with the past is something rarely achieved by movies. Compare this with movies on the Holocaust: there are many, but very few of them capture the real horror. La Vita รจ Bella is just one example. Same for this movie.
In this view, it is already an achievement to bring a "Hollywood-style" movie in cinemas about this topic. The horrors that happened are largely unknown to the greater public.
However, the movie in itself was a bit of a disappointment. The dialogues were not well worked out. The multiple languages used in the movie (English, Japanese and Chinese) did not interact well, making the chemistry between the actors difficult.
The actors did make an effort, although Christian Bale could have done a little more. The Japanese soldiers seemed like caricatures with little character development.
The lack of chemistry affected the connection with the viewer. Many clues and scenes were just too obvious and overly predictable, and you never really feel like you're standing in Nanking.
However, one good point is the use of light throughout the movie. Also, some scenes were surprisingly good, the battle scene in the beginning is just one example.
So this movie is a nice one to watch if you like historical movies, but don't expect to be amazed.
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