Opening Old Wounds: The Ghost of the Nanking Massacre

Modern Film Portrayals of the Nanking Massacre

Trailer for the 1995 film Don’t Cry, Nanking

This trailer was selected to contrast with the subsequent two trailers below. It showcases the “massacre” side of the Nanking Massacre. Bombs devastate the streets of Nanking and Japanese soldiers senselessly gun down a family in hiding. The killing of innocents is highlighted, but note that there is no mention of resistance by the Chinese army.

Trailer for the 2009 film City of Life and Death

In contrast to Don’t Cry, Nanking, this film, made almost a decade and a half later, emphasizes the role of Chinese soldiers in defending the city. Although the killing of helpless civilians is briefly included, the primary focus of the film is on the heroism and sacrifice of the Chinese soldiers. It is interesting to note that some theories1 suggest that the rampant desertion of Chinese soldiers and their escape into the ranks of civilians might have exacerbated the brutality of the Japanese towards civilians. The City of Life and Death was a financial as well as a critical success.

Trailer for the 2011 film The Flowers of War

Likewise, the film The Flowers of War shows the role the heroism of Chinese soldiers played in defending the citizens of Nanking. However, in eyewitness accounts of the Massacre, such as John Rabe’s diary, Chinese soldiers did not play a huge role during Japanese occupation of Nanking. It was often European foreigners, as is seen in this film, that protected Chinese citizens from the wrath of the Japanese.2 The Flowers of War was highly successful in China, being nominated for several awards.3 4

Excerpt from the 2007 documentary Nanking

The 2007 documentary Nanking was directed by Western directors Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman and offers oral accounts from survivors, as seen in the clip above. The style of the documentary is akin to that of Iris Chang’s book published in 19975, which also highlighted the savagery committed by the Japanese to the point of telling very gruesome details. By increasing the “shock value” of the documentary, the directors may have made it more interesting or memorable for their audiences, but this trend towards the intensification of the retelling of Nanking has been condemned by many academics6 7 8 in the field for bringing up old wounds.

The black and white portrayal of China as the “good guys” and Japan as the “bad guys” has permeated into the modern-day interpretations of the Nanking Massacre, at least in popular film depictions. Chinese soldiers, whose presence according to eyewitness accounts were minimal, are now glorified as the heroes of Nanking. In addition, remembrance of Nanking continues to be plagued by the recounting of the most gruesome atrocities committed by the Japanese. Perhaps these two trends have intensified revisionist protests that the disaster is highly exaggerated. The continued argument over the Nanking Massacre has proved to be a problem in modern Sino-Japanese relations. Indeed, the ghost of Nanking continues to haunt China and Japan in modern-day politics.

 

  1. Takashi, Y. (2006). The Making of the “Rape of Nanking:” History and Memory in Japan, China, and the United States. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ↩
  2. Rabe, J. (1998). The Good Man of Nanking. (E. Wickert, Ed.) (J. E. Woods, Trans.). New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ↩
  3. http://www.asianfilmawards.asia/2012/6th-nominees-and-winners/6th-afa-nominees-winners-by-nom/ ↩
  4. http://hkfaa.com/winnerlist.html ↩
  5. Chang, I. (1997). The Rape of Nanking: the Forgotten Holocaust of World War II. New York, NY: BasicBooks. ↩
  6. Askew, D. (2007). The specter of the Nanjing Atrocity. In Japan Echo (Eds.), An Overview of the Nanjing Debate. (2008). Tokyo, Japan: Japan Echo Inc. (Reprinted from Japan Echo, 34 (6).) ↩
  7. Coox, A. D. (2000). Waking old wounds. In Japan Echo (Eds.), An Overview of the Nanjing Debate. (2008). Tokyo, Japan: Japan Echo Inc. (Reprinted from Japan Echo, 27 (1).) ↩
  8. Fogel, J. A. (2000). The controversy over Iris Chang’s Rape of Nanking. In Japan Echo (Eds.), An Overview of the Nanjing Debate. (2008). Tokyo, Japan: Japan Echo Inc. (Reprinted from Japan Echo, 27 (1).) ↩
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