John Rabe

I have been in Beijing for several days. This afternoon I went to see a movie in a cinema in a newly-opened mega-mall near my home.

The movie is "John Rabe". The Chinese name is "Rabe's Diary". Based on his informative diary, it was about the experience of this businessman of Siemens during the notorious Nanking Massacre. He was not a normal figure, he served as the president of the International Safety Zone during the tragedy. His and a few other foreigners' efforts saved more than 200,000 lives.

Technically, it was an OK movie. B+ or B. The music is good. Several scenes are memorable. For instance, Rabe let in the flood of his workers and hurried them under the gigantic Nazi flag to escape the Japanese bombing. Nazi flag, a sign of evil and killing, became refuge and symbol of life and peace. Also, after his driver was beheaded, he was asked to choose among Chinese POWs one(s) to serve him (as a driver). He asked for 20. He walked among those soldiers, knowing his picks meant live or die for those men. ....

But I don't like the performance or the plots of Zhang Jingchu. Totally nonsense. Also, there are several scenes depicting people bursting into joy and cheers right after an escape. It might be what actually happened. But it made me feel uncomfortable: why joyful and cheerful? They seemed to feel the victory and begin to wave goodbye the tragedy. Have we/they succeeded? Should we begin to not to think about it as it is sth past?

Substantively, I feel the movie is much needed. John Rabe deserves much more credits than he actually has now. The "massacre generation" of Nanjingers remembered Rabe. They financially helped him after WWII, when he was very badly treated. But in the macro history texts, for decades, we forgot him unconsciously or ignored him consciously. He was buried in the dusts of history. It is good to pick him up and make his more renowned, FOR THE SAKE OF 200,000+ LIVES.

Also, this movie is great in the sense that it revealed extensively the war crimes committed by Prince Yasuhiko Asaka. For complicated reasons, in the Sino-Jap War propaganda in mainland China, we tend to cover up the crimes of this man, maybe because he was in the royal family. I only know him and his role in NK after going to college. Now we talk more and more about him, a good thing.