Dead to Rights

This is not a movie to be enjoyed. Throughout my watch, I feel my intestines knotted from the blatant display of innumerable brutalities during the Rape of Nanking that were unfathomable strategically and ethically. Not a single body of water in the film isn't red, all bloodied by the 300,000 "swines" that were humans. Laudably, unlike some Sino-Japanese War movies that are purely slogan-calling and hostility-instigating, Dead to Rights has a rather impartial and documentary narrative stance, moving the audience by painstakingly replicating the massacre and letting the plot do the talking. While it's typical in this genre of films to vilify the invaders and traitors, Dead to Rights portrays two brilliant counterexamples: Ito's performative kindness and intrinsic cowardice and Guanghai's suppressed sentiments and deepest despair. With that said, performance of all seven protagonists are spot-on, making the choices, sacrifices and sufferings, though mostly fictional truly believable and resounding. Bravo specifically to Gao Ye, who perfectly captures Yuxiu's change from resiliently hopeful to defenselessly abused to reclaiming justice and avengement, as her powerless tears reflect the most inhumane violations done to countless comfort women. In all, Dead to Rights is a soul-stirring piece of work, but please be prepared for the historical pain it conveys. To intrusion and trampling, I shall retaliate with survival and remembering.

Sadly, even to this day, those who committed the massacre are still enshrined in the "Shrine", and there are countless people who are forgetting or even denying this history that truly took place.

This is the significance of this film, to remind the world not to forget this heartrending history. Some people say that such films have been made too many times. But I would say, as long as war criminals are still enshrined in Japanese shrines, there will never be many such films.

As someone who has volunteered in oral history projects documenting this period, I was impressed by the film's meticulous attention to historical detail. The production did its homework-many archival elements mirrored materials I've encountered in my research. The inclusion of subtle but telling details demonstrates a rare commitment to authenticity that will resonate with history-conscious viewers.

From a filmmaking standpoint, this movie occasionally prioritizes structural precision over emotional release. Certain third-act transitions feel abrupt or awkward. This approach risks making pivotal moments feel more academic.

That said, these are minor quibbles against the film's achievements. The ensemble cast breathes life into the painstakingly recreated era, and the central metaphor of photography as both weapon and witness remains haunting. A worthy addition to the canon of historical cinema-one that treats its subject with both scholarly respect and cinematic craft.

This film must be seen in theaters. The world needs to know what Japan did the past . The atrocities they committed in China were mirrored in Malaysia, where they similarly tortured and slaughtered our people. Let us cherish the prosperity and happiness of our nation today, and never forget the lessons of history. We must never forget the lessons of history.

A must see film, Chinese Schindler's list based on the true story happened in Nanjing city during WW II Japanese invasion.

A picture paints a thousand words. So much sorrow, anger & love shown in those little figures struggling when they are facing a hell of barbarians together.

It's astonishing to see how brutal Japanese army slaughter the innocent civilians, even the baby... They are savages armed with gun, fight jets, what they did is nothing to do with civilization. This was happened just 80 years ago, and similar scenarios are still happening in the world today. Horrible!!!

People are weeping in the cinema. No one stands up after the final scene, people keep sitting in the dark and digest their emotions, until the lights turn on.

Indeed a masterpiece with powerful shot and great actor performance to reveal a short moment of the history.