美国国家地理电影公司主席来信

　　美国国家地理电影公司主席来信

　　陆川导演的第三部电影作品《南京！南京！》是有史以来反映二次世界大战最优秀的影片。它生动地描写了一段残酷的历史——中国南京的沦陷，从最后一刻对生与死的深刻反思中，看到人类为了生存的抵抗力量，在人性疯狂崩溃的底线面前，看到人类的拯救与自我拯救。

　　影片由日军包围中国首都南京开始。中国政府已经撤离，残留部队奋力要冲出城去。南京城里只剩下一些平民，为了保护家庭而留守破城。

　　第一个镜头：日本进攻。坚守的中国士兵向日军发起进攻。这个开场和《拯救大兵瑞恩》一样紧张激烈震撼。日本占据优势，处死上千的中国战俘。

　　在电影中，我们看到了一个小男孩，与一名中国士兵并肩作战。这个名叫小豆子的男孩，是大屠杀仅存的两个幸存者之一。从一个日本士兵角川的视角看到，屠杀随处可见。角川年轻，从未经历战争和屠杀，甚至自己也被战争的残酷所吓倒。这种恐怖的气氛，强烈的冲击着观众的心里，一直持续到结尾。

　　陆川导演为了加强紧张气氛，主要运用现场真实原声，子弹的射击声，炸药的爆炸声，行军的脚步声。第一段音乐从31分开始。

　　拉贝要从安全区送走100名女士交给日本人。这段对南京人的凌辱，比战争场面更为震撼，强调战争对人的摧残。

　　最后祭祀的舞蹈。角川，曾经的纯洁和浪漫，在战争的恐怖中被击垮。片尾我们再次看到了小豆子的微笑，就是在片头曾经见过的那个灿烂笑脸。

　　陆川的创作意图在角川的这个角色中得到最好的体现和贯穿，我们得以看到日军的残忍和非人性。

　　整部电影紧张，真实，生动写实，但绝不过分。很多无情的屠杀伴随着死亡的场面，陆川导演却选择人物表情的刻画，而不是直接展现死亡：他展现唐先生的痛哭，而不是小女儿的坠落。

　　他选择黑白影像，是明智的选择。这立刻让人想到《辛德勒名单》，两者相似但不尽相同。《南京！南京！》延续了《光荣之路》《禁忌游戏》的风格，看到了战争对人类的深远影响。

　　A Letter From National Geographic Films Adam Leipzig

　　Lu Chuan's third feature, CITY OF LIFE AND DEATH, ranks with the best World War II films ever made. A vivid and brutal account of the Chinese occupation and rape of Nanking, it is, finally, a remarkable meditation on the randomness of life and death, the human power to survive, and the extent to which people will go to be cruel as well as each others' salvation.

　　The film begins with the Japanese army surrounding Nanking, then China's capital city. The Chinese generals have fled, and the Chinese footsoldiers rush through the Japanese battalions to get to safety themselves. All that is left inside the city are civilians and a few Chinese civilian soldiers who have stayed behind to defend their families.

　　The first act is the harrowing action of the Japanese taking the city. It culminates in an extended battle sequence when the remaining Chinese soldiers ambush the Japanese from a bombed-out building. This is as intense as the opening of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. The Japanese prevail, and they execute thousands.

　　In this act we meet a young Boy, who befriends one of the Chinese commanders. After the final slaughter of Chinese troops, this Boy is one of only two survivors. We also meet Kadokawa, a Japanese officer, although no one really seems to be in charge. Killings happen randomly and at whim. The Japanese soldiers are young and innocent, terrified themselves even as they terrify the civilians. The sense of suspense and dread that begins here continues, forcefully, until the movie's end.

　　Chuan heightens the tension by using mainly natural sounds -- bullets, explosions, footsteps. The first music cue comes at the 31 minute mark.

　　We are now in act two, which focusses on life in the so-called safety zone. We meet bespectacled Mr. Tang, Rabe's secretary, who tries to calm and care for the civilians, plus his own extended family. Tang and Rabe are faced with cruel choices. At one point, Tang makes a devil's bargain, collaborating with the Japanese in the hope of protecting his family. Rabe is forced to ask 100 women to service the Japanese sexually in return for rations for the rest of the community. This sequence, the literal rape of Nanking, is even more potent than the battle scenes at depicting the extent to which war desensitizes men.

　　The third act focus shifts back to the Boy, and continues on Kadokawa as the white-clad Japanese army celebrate their victory over the city in a surreal tycho drum display. Kadokawa, who has been revealed to be both an innocent and a romantic, has watched and been responsible for unbelievable horror. In an act of trying to purge his soul, he lets the Boy and a companion go free, and as they do the Boy begins to run and smile -- the first smile we've seen in the film.

　　It is a mark of Chuan's strength as a filmmaker that the only truly continuing character is Kadokawa, a Japanese officer, and that through his experiences we grapple with the immorality of his and his men's actions.

　　The film is intense, realistic and graphic, but never exploitative. There are many images of death, unrelenting at times, but Chuan prefers to focus on the human dimension: he shows us a man's sobs as a child is hurled from a window, rather than showing the child's fall.

　　He has shot the picture, wisely, in black and white, in wide-screen format. This will immediately bring reference to SHINDLER'S LIST, which is appropriate but insufficient. CITY OF LIFE AND DEATH also follows from PATHS OF GLORY and JEUX INTERDITS, as black and white movies that show how war affects us.