Review – Nanking

This documentary begins with a gaggle of Hollywood celebrities sitting down and reading from the diaries and letters of the Americans and Europeans who organized the safe zone in Nanking during the Japanese invasion. So at the outset I thought, “hooray, here’s another tale of international woe seen primarily from the perspective of white people.” However, this turned out to be a much more extensive and much better chronicle of the tragedy than it seemed like it would be. The interviews with the Chinese survivors were astounding in their frankness and impact. And the integration of interviews, readings and archive footage was quite well done. Thus I was more than willing to accept the decision to add star-power gravitas to the production. I was even touched by the dedication to Iris Chang at the end. Even if you don’t have any particular interest in the subject, this one is worth a look. Worth seeing