Growing up, you don’t see the writing on the wall
Passing by, moving straight ahead, you knew it all
But maybe sometime if you feel the pain
You’ll find you’re all alone, everything has changed

Chorus:
I can see a new horizon underneath the blazing sky
I’ll be where the eagle’s flying higher and higher
Gonna be your man in motion, all I need is a pair of wheels
Take me where my future’s lyin’, St. Elmo’s Fire
wu……..

Burning up, don’t know just how far that I can go (just how far I go)
Soon be home, only just a few miles down the road
I can make it, I know I can
You broke the boy in me, but you won’t break the man

Burnin’, burnin’ in me, I can feel it burnin’
Oooh, burnin’ inside of me… (to fade)

Last night we finally watched the film City of Life and Death (Nanking! Nanking!), director Lu Chuan’s epic drama of the Nanjing Massacre that took place in 1937 when the Japanese invaded and occupied China.

The film gives a glimpse of the atrocities committed by the Japanese during the weeks following the capture of then capital of China, Nanjing. During this short period, hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians were killed, raped, and tortured. To this day, this event remains a serious political issue as the Japanese government either disputes its existence or claims it was exaggerated for propaganda purposes. Needless to say, this makes the Chinese quite upset. It would be like the German government officially denying the holocaust. It’s almost unbelievable that in 2009 this event is still glossed over or banned outright from Japanese history textbooks.

The story revolves around a few characters: a Chinese soldier, a remorseful Japanese soldier, and a ‘running dog’ or traitor who gives information to the Japanese to save himself and his family. The film depicts the mass slaughter, rape, and sadistic behavior of the invaders, while trying to humanize it through representation of both sides.

This movie has received a lot of criticism in both China and Japan: in China, many were upset for its sometimes sympathetic portrayal of the enemy; the director received death threats because of the film’s portrayal of the ‘good’ Japanese soldier. In Japan, the movie is banned outright (and it’s not because of the violence).

I did have some issues of my own. I found the film moved slowly and contained a lot of forced melodramatic scenes. For example, in one scene speechless Japanese soldiers look on as a Chinese captive displays a righteous act of bravery by standing up to be executed when everyone else is afraid to; soon after, all the captives nobly follows. I found this unnecessary and almost a cheap grab at eliciting emotion from the audience; the subject matter is powerful enough to hold its own and doesn’t need forced drama to get the point across.

Another was the lack of violence. I’m not one for gratuitous violence in films, but I don’t think this film portrayed how horrible things truly were, and omitted the fact that the massacre wasn’t isolated to Nanjing. There was no mention of the sadistic executions that occurred (e.g. babies tossed in the air to land on bayonets, death labs that used Chinese citizens in unthinkable medical experiments, vivisections, experimental weapons testing, etc.). I’m sure the Chinese censors had a field day with this movie before it was approved for domestic release, but even so I feel not even mentioning these other atrocities does a disservice to viewers who may not be familiar with the events.

Also, its portrayal of John Rabe – the Nazi businessman who set up the “Safety Zone” in Nanjing and helped save the lives of 200,000 Chinese citizens during the invasion – was a bit misleading. While his story could be (and has been) a movie on its own, this film seemed to depict him as a bit of a kind coward who was helping reluctantly.

While I definitely think this movie is worth checking out based on the subject matter, I feel it could have been so much more if the director would have avoided cinematic cliches and instead focused more on the event other than dramatic shots of the stars in the film. 2.5/5

Someone has received a crash course in Arnie. She reluctantly watched classics such as Commando, Total Recall, Terminator (first one), Running Man, and Predator. Of minor note is Kindergarten Cop which was abandoned at the halfway mark because it really is that bad.

Best one liners:

After killing bad guy with a drill:
“Screw you!”

After impaling villain with hot water pipe with air blowing out:
“Let off some steam, Bennett!”

After killing man sitting next to him on plane:
“Don’t disturb my friend, he’s dead tired.”

And my personal favourite:

I never told you I’d love you all my life. Oh my love, you never swore to adore me all your life. We never made promises like that, knowing me knowing you. We never thought we ever would be caught by love fickle as we were. And yet, and yet, step by step, without a word between us, bit by bit, feelings slipped between our merry mingle bodies and words of love rose to our naked lips. Bit by bit lots of words of love began to mingle gently with our kisses. How many words of love? I never would have thought I’d always want you. Oh my love, we never would have thought we two could live together and not get bored. Wake up every morning and be just as surprised to be just as happy in the same bed, desire nothing more than that oh so banal pleasure of feeling so good to be together. And yet, and yet, step by step without a word between us, bit by bit our feelings bound us tight in spite of ourselves, bound us tight forever Feelings stronger than any words of love known or unknown. Feelings so wild and so strong. Feelings we never thought were possible before. Don’t ever promise to adore me all your life. Let’s not make promises like that knowing me knowing you. Let’s keep the feeling that this love of ours, this love of ours, will be short and sweet.