classics like Schindler's List
This film, the second big-screen work by young genius director Shen Ao, yet it showcases rare talent. Its restraint in depicting brutal history, masterful use of cinematic language, skillful orchestration of audience emotions, and its unwavering focus on the perspective of ordinary citizens-victims of the war-all lead me to believe it can rival, or even surpass, classics like Schindler's List, solidifying its place as another landmark in WWII cinema.
This film, under the influence of militarism and fascism, shows how anyone-whether Japanese soldiers from poor backgrounds or young people from noble families-can be reduced to beasts. They no longer regard other humans as their own kind, thus massacring and insulting others without any qualms. I hope everyone will have the chance to watch this film in theaters, not merely because of the historical grievances between the Japanese and Chinese peoples. But because each of us, after seeing it, should reflect on a question: On the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Anti-Fascist War, has the world truly ended its war against fascism and militarism? In today's world of 2025, have such massacres and acts of extermination finally vanished?
This film, under the influence of militarism and fascism, shows how anyone-whether Japanese soldiers from poor backgrounds or young people from noble families-can be reduced to beasts. They no longer regard other humans as their own kind, thus massacring and insulting others without any qualms. I hope everyone will have the chance to watch this film in theaters, not merely because of the historical grievances between the Japanese and Chinese peoples. But because each of us, after seeing it, should reflect on a question: On the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Anti-Fascist War, has the world truly ended its war against fascism and militarism? In today's world of 2025, have such massacres and acts of extermination finally vanished?
- WayS-9
- 9 ago 2025