John Rabe (2009)

Directed by

Florian Gallenberger

Genre

drama film

Country

Germany, People's Republic of China, France

Runtime

2h 14m

Rated

12

Rating

7.0 of 10 from 128 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A German businessman in 1937 Nanjing uses his Nazi party affiliation to set up a safety zone during the Japanese invasion. He protects hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians from the ensuing massacre.

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What happens

John Rabe (released in the United Kingdom as City of War: The Story of John Rabe) is a 2009 biographical film directed by Florian Gallenberger, based upon John Rabe's published wartime diaries. An international co-production between Germany, China and France, the film focuses upon the experiences of Rabe (Ulrich Tukur), a German businessman who used his Nazi Party membership to create a protective International Safety Zone in Nanjing, China, helping to save over 200,000 Chinese from the Nanjing Massacre in late 1937 and early 1938. The massacre and its associated atrocities were committed subsequent to the Battle of Nanjing by the invading Imperial Japanese Army after they defeated the Chinese Nationalist forces defending the city during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Filming commenced in 2007, and it premiered at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival on 7 February 2009. Upon release, it did not receive theatrical distribution in Japan and was the subject of vociferous refutations by Japanese ultranationalists who denied the events ever took place. The film was released elsewhere to mixed critical reception. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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