Directed by: Zhang Yimou
Cast: Christian Bale, Ni Ni, Zhang Xinyi
Running Time: 146 minutes
Inspired by the true
events of the attack on the Chinese city of Nanking by the Japanese Army, in
1937, during the Second Sino-Japanese War, this film tells the story of John
Miller, an American mortician that takes refuge in a Nanking church with a
group of young escapees, mostly girls, and a group of prostitutes. Acting as a priest,
Miller tries his best to protect the other people in the church from the
Japanese.
In spite of the fact that this movie relied a whole lot on young inexperienced actors and actresses, the acting here was superb. Beyond the language barrier, the emotions carried through. Christian Bale, as usual, is absolutely convincing as John Miller. This is a very difficult film to take. The war scenes are well done. The violence of some of the acts perpetrated are shocking. This film stayed with me long after it was done. I even had to take a break at one point to catch my emotional breath.
I could nitpick and find faults here, but, really, I love this film for what it is.
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