Underplayed Gems

City of Life and Death (2009)

City of Life and Death poster
Original title
南京!南京!
Directed by
Lu Chuan
Genre
drama film, war film
Country
People's Republic of China
Runtime
2h 12m
Rated
R
Rating
7.4 of 10 from 240 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

The film follows Chinese soldiers and civilians during the Japanese invasion of Nanjing in 1937. It shows the brutal occupation and the struggle for survival in the city.

bleakharrowingvisceralcontemplativeheavyintensesobering

What happens

City of Life and Death is a 2009 Chinese historical war drama film written and directed by Lu Chuan, marking his third feature film. The film deals with the Battle of Nanjing and the following massacre committed by the Japanese army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The film is also known as Nanking! Nanking! or Nanjing! Nanjing!. The film was released in China on April 22, 2009, and became a major box office success in the country, earning CN¥150 million (approximately US$20 million) in its first two and a half weeks alone. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? You can browse by genre, country and year, or take this one into the 3D catalogue and ask the Catbot for something closer.