Release Date: Oct. 25, 2011
Price: 2-disc DVD $29.95, 2-disc Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Kino
The horrors of the Rape of Nanking are chronicled in The City of Life and Death.
The Chinese epic film The City of Life and Death, a depiction of the Rape of Nanking, is based on the recorded witness testimony from the real-life survivors of the infamous reign of terror conducted by the occupying Japanese army in the Chinese capital of Nanking in 1937.
Directed by Lu Chuan (Mountain Patrol), the strikingly photographed black-and-white film is the first big-budget fiction film by the Chinese to deal with the event.
The City of Life and Death is filled with an ensemble of conflicted characters caught in the crossfire, including Chinese officer Lu (Liu Ye), who leads his men in a hopeless, defiant resistance effort; the German businessman, John Rabe (John Paisley), who establishes a safety zone in an attempt to protect civilians...
Price: 2-disc DVD $29.95, 2-disc Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Kino
The horrors of the Rape of Nanking are chronicled in The City of Life and Death.
The Chinese epic film The City of Life and Death, a depiction of the Rape of Nanking, is based on the recorded witness testimony from the real-life survivors of the infamous reign of terror conducted by the occupying Japanese army in the Chinese capital of Nanking in 1937.
Directed by Lu Chuan (Mountain Patrol), the strikingly photographed black-and-white film is the first big-budget fiction film by the Chinese to deal with the event.
The City of Life and Death is filled with an ensemble of conflicted characters caught in the crossfire, including Chinese officer Lu (Liu Ye), who leads his men in a hopeless, defiant resistance effort; the German businessman, John Rabe (John Paisley), who establishes a safety zone in an attempt to protect civilians...
- 9/30/2011
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Reviewed by Jay Antani
(June 2011)
Directed/Written by: Lu Chuan
Starring: Liu Ye, Gao Yuanyuan, Hideo Nakaizumi, Fan Wei, Jiang Yiyan, Ryu Kohata, Liu Bin, John Paisley, Beverly Peckous, Qin Lan, Sam Voutas, Yao Di and Zhao Yisui
“City of Life and Death” is among the greatest war films ever made. Rich in humanist themes and absolutely unflinching in its depiction of the moral chaos and physical violence of war, Lu Chuan’s film about the Japanese occupation of Nanking in 1937 isn’t merely one of the year’s best films, it’s a powerful work of art and a testament to the expressive essence of pure cinema.
Inevitable comparisons will be made between “City of Life and Death” and Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan.” Lu’s opening battle scenes between the Japanese invaders and a Chinese platoon — led by a stalwart patriot (Liu Ye) — have the complex staging,...
(June 2011)
Directed/Written by: Lu Chuan
Starring: Liu Ye, Gao Yuanyuan, Hideo Nakaizumi, Fan Wei, Jiang Yiyan, Ryu Kohata, Liu Bin, John Paisley, Beverly Peckous, Qin Lan, Sam Voutas, Yao Di and Zhao Yisui
“City of Life and Death” is among the greatest war films ever made. Rich in humanist themes and absolutely unflinching in its depiction of the moral chaos and physical violence of war, Lu Chuan’s film about the Japanese occupation of Nanking in 1937 isn’t merely one of the year’s best films, it’s a powerful work of art and a testament to the expressive essence of pure cinema.
Inevitable comparisons will be made between “City of Life and Death” and Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan.” Lu’s opening battle scenes between the Japanese invaders and a Chinese platoon — led by a stalwart patriot (Liu Ye) — have the complex staging,...
- 6/17/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Network
Reviewed by Jay Antani
(June 2011)
Directed/Written by: Lu Chuan
Starring: Liu Ye, Gao Yuanyuan, Hideo Nakaizumi, Fan Wei, Jiang Yiyan, Ryu Kohata, Liu Bin, John Paisley, Beverly Peckous, Qin Lan, Sam Voutas, Yao Di and Zhao Yisui
“City of Life and Death” is among the greatest war films ever made. Rich in humanist themes and absolutely unflinching in its depiction of the moral chaos and physical violence of war, Lu Chuan’s film about the Japanese occupation of Nanking in 1937 isn’t merely one of the year’s best films, it’s a powerful work of art and a testament to the expressive essence of pure cinema.
Inevitable comparisons will be made between “City of Life and Death” and Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan.” Lu’s opening battle scenes between the Japanese invaders and a Chinese platoon — led by a stalwart patriot (Liu Ye) — have the complex staging,...
(June 2011)
Directed/Written by: Lu Chuan
Starring: Liu Ye, Gao Yuanyuan, Hideo Nakaizumi, Fan Wei, Jiang Yiyan, Ryu Kohata, Liu Bin, John Paisley, Beverly Peckous, Qin Lan, Sam Voutas, Yao Di and Zhao Yisui
“City of Life and Death” is among the greatest war films ever made. Rich in humanist themes and absolutely unflinching in its depiction of the moral chaos and physical violence of war, Lu Chuan’s film about the Japanese occupation of Nanking in 1937 isn’t merely one of the year’s best films, it’s a powerful work of art and a testament to the expressive essence of pure cinema.
Inevitable comparisons will be made between “City of Life and Death” and Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan.” Lu’s opening battle scenes between the Japanese invaders and a Chinese platoon — led by a stalwart patriot (Liu Ye) — have the complex staging,...
- 6/17/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Magazine
When Lu Chuan’s City of Life and Death won the top prize at the San Sebastián Film Festival two years ago, it was a testament not only to the emotional resonance and technical mastery of his widescreen black-and-white epic, which dramatizes the infamous 1937 Nanjing massacre at the height of the Second Sino-Japanese War, but a tacit acknowledgment of the film’s daring revisionist ambitions. A graduate of the Beijing Film Academy, Lu had previously directed a small-scale crime thriller, Missing Gun, and the critically well received Kekexili, Mountain Patrol, a rural drama about efforts to stop antelope poachers that screened at Sundance and won the Grand Jury Prize at the Tokyo Film Festival. But the latest film by this talented 40-year-old writer-director, the result of years of research and toil, has a depth of feeling that far surpasses his previous efforts.
While previous homegrown films about the massacre (Dont...
While previous homegrown films about the massacre (Dont...
- 5/11/2011
- by Damon Smith
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
- #17. City Of Life And Death Director: Lu Chuan Cast:Liu Ye, Hideo Nakaizumi, Fan Wei, John Paisley, Gao Yuanyuan, Yuko MiyamotoDistributor: National Geographic Films. Buzz: Those who've seen Kekexili: Mountain Patrol won't need an introduction to the filmmaker, but for the rest of yous, he is one of the better Chinese filmmakers around. Epic scaled film should receive one of the top 5 nomination spots for the Best Foreign picture. The Gist: Filmed in B&W, this is about the 1937 massacre of Nanking by the Japanese army. Tiff Schedule: Click here for screening times ...
- 9/2/2009
- IONCINEMA.com
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