Today is the 6th National Memorial Day for the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre. Remembering history is not to perpetuate hatred, but to hope that peace-loving people can learn from history and face the future.
Since the 1980s, a total of 15 domestic and foreign films about the Nanjing Massacre have been made, from the earliest 1987 "Blood Evidence" (directed by Luo Guanqun, starring Zhai Naishe) to the 2011 " Jinling Ten" "Three Hairpins " (directed by Zhang Yimou , starring Tong Dawei), 10 of these films are dramas adapted from historical backgrounds. I believe most people have seen a few of them. In addition to the above two films, there are also There are "Qixia Temple 1937" directed by Zheng Fangnan, and "Nanjing!" directed by Lu Chuan. Nanjing! ", "Nanjing 1937" directed by Wu Ziniu, "Black Sun Nanjing Massacre" directed by Hong Kong's Mou Dunfu, "May and August" directed by Hong Kong's To Kwok-wai, "Rabe's Diary" directed by German Florian Gallenberger John Rabe", "The Children of Huang Shi" directed by Canadian Roger Spottiswoode, and "Nanjing Shoah" directed by American Simon West.
However, today I would like to recommend to the south five other Nanjing Massacre documentaries based on historical blood evidence. Compared with adapted feature films or even commercial films, these documentaries more truly restore the massacre that year. Some of the scenes permanently recorded those hell-like moments and are worthy of being remembered by future generations.
"Forgetting history means betrayal, forgetting the Massacre means suffering the second massacre."
"The Rape of Nanking" in 2005
This is the first documentary about the Nanjing Massacre. The producer is Dr. Ron Joseph of the United States. Ron Joseph has an important label, which is "it took 10 years to shoot the documentary "Nanjing Nightmare" at his own expense." Seeing this, everyone is as awe-inspiring to Dr. Lang Joseph as Xiang Nan.
Ron Joseph has been interested in World War II since he was a child. He read thousands of books about World War II, wondering how the evil war came so close to taking over the world. Later, he became a neuropsychologist, and his initial research on the Nanjing Massacre was based on "psychological research on the atrocities committed by the invaders in World War II." However, when Lang Joseph saw the atrocities committed by the Japanese army in Nanjing, he was shocked.
"I immediately realized that these atrocities were unprecedented in human history. Those Japanese were simply cruel, irrational devils from hell." ".
Since then, Ron Joseph has specially collected a large amount of information on the Nanjing Massacre and began to prepare for the filming of a documentary, because he wanted more people to know the truth. After this documentary was released in the United States, it caused a huge sensation. The biggest reaction from the audience was anger. If it were not for the ironclad evidence in front of them, they said they could not imagine that the Japanese army could be so cruel. Ron Joseph said in a subsequent interview,
"As an American, I can look at this period of history from a truly independent and objective perspective. This completely independently produced film helps convey to the world about True information about the Nanjing Massacre ”htm. l1
2007 "Forgotten 1937" (also known as "Nanjing, 1937")
Shortly after the release of "Nanjing Nightmare", American directors Bill Guttentag and Dan Strowman filmed another documentary "Forgotten of 1937". This time the focus is on a group of foreigners who guarded the safety of Nanjing citizens during World War II. Although they have all passed away, the film shows their letters and diaries from that year, including the 40-minute precious video shot by missionaries who risked their lives at that time. The producers also interviewed nearly 80 survivors and Japanese veterans of the year, and collected various video and written materials from six countries to truly reproduce the various atrocities committed by the Japanese army during the occupation of Nanjing in 1937.
This documentary is called the Eastern version of Schindler's List
This documentary once again tells the world objectively: history cannot be concealed or changed, and the Nanjing Massacre is real.
2008 " Zhang Chunru "
When it comes to the Nanjing Massacre, there is a resounding name that must be remembered, she is Zhang Chunru. Although she is a Chinese American, it was she who used a large amount of data and evidence to once again reveal to the world the "almost forgotten Nanjing Massacre" twenty years ago.
Zhang Chunru grew up in the United States. When she was 26 years old, she accidentally saw a photo of the Nanjing Massacre for the first time. However, she searched almost all English non-fiction books, but none of them mentioned this paragraph. History that should not be forgotten, she was shocked at that moment,
"Almost everything Some Westerners know about Hitler's crimes, but no one knows about the massacres carried out by the Japanese in China. "
To this end, starting from 1994, she spent three years on her own to visit many massacres around the world. The survivors read a large number of historical documents and wrote and published the English version of "The Atrocities of Nanjing" based on various shocking materials. Once this book came out, it shocked the Western world and was reprinted more than ten times in the following years. Zhang Chunru used her impeccable efforts and courage to confront that tragic memory in human history. She told the world: The history of human compatriots killing each other is long and miserable, and no disaster can compare with Nanjing during World War II. Compared to the Holocaust. William Kirby, chairman of the Department of History at Harvard and professor of modern Chinese history, wrote in the "Preface" of the book: "The atrocities in Nanjing have been almost forgotten in the West, so the publication of this book is particularly important."
Regrettably Yes, on November 9, 2004, perhaps due to long-term pressure and external threats, Zhang Chunru committed suicide in her car in California. Her spirit will live on forever. A statue has been erected in her honor at the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Jiangdongmen Massacre in Nanjing for the memory of the world. Everyone will not forget all she has given.
2007 is the tenth anniversary of the publication of Chang Chun-ru's "The Rape of Nanjing". To commemorate her, Canadian Truth Records Production Company filmed "Chung Chun-ru". The film shows how Zhang Chunru deeply explored the dark history of the Nanjing Massacre and restored the historical truth. It also showed the atrocities of the Nanjing Massacre by the Japanese invaders from Zhang Chunru's perspective.
Director Anne Peake said: "History has no borders. The Nanjing Massacre was a crime against humanity. The world should be made aware of this period of history. We hope to use the lens to preserve and spread the historical truth."
2009 "Nanjing" Divided Memory》
Although Japan’s right-wing forces strongly deny the atrocities of the Nanjing Massacre, the facts are facts and cannot be concealed. Even in Japan, some conscientious Japanese take the initiative to acknowledge this period of history and sincerely express their gratitude to China people apologize.
In 2009, the Japanese director Tori Kazu Takeda and Ms. Tamaki Matsuoka, a retired elementary school teacher in Osaka, jointly produced and filmed the documentary "Memories of Nanjing Divided". They recorded more than 300 Chinese victims and more than 250 Japanese soldiers. Conduct interviews and present the oral information of the interviewees in Chinese and Japanese versions to get to the bottom of the Nanjing Massacre.
"I hope to film all the information of the insiders. There will be no redundant or exaggerated parts in the video, only the testimony of the parties involved." Tamaki Matsuoka said.
2018 "Girls and Images"
Last year, the documentary short "Girls and Images" directed by American female director Vanessa Roth told the story of the 88-year-old Nanjing Massacre survivor Xia Shuqin. In 1937, Xia Shuqin, who was 8 years old at the time, and her 4-year-old sister witnessed the tragedy of their family being massacred by the Japanese army. Xia Shuqin herself was stabbed three times by the Japanese bayonet and survived. American missionary John Magee used a camera to capture many victims of Japanese atrocities, including the surviving sisters Xia Shuqin.
Roth issued a statement saying that there are probably less than a hundred survivors of the Nanjing Massacre alive today, and for generations, the world has known very little about this massacre. This film focuses on a survivor and records the story of her personal experience. "This is also a gift to ourselves" and helps to better understand our human past and ourselves.
Okay, I’ve introduced all the documentaries here, but have you ever discovered that these documentaries were shot by foreign friends? This really puzzles Xiang Nan. Since the country attaches so much importance to this historical event, it has specially set up a national memorial ceremony. Today, why has no one in China collected and sorted out all the evidence and materials, shot a complete documentary, and left it to future generations?
