hooraychining

The film's plot, featuring explicit depictions of massacres, rape, and the destruction of families, is based on historical facts but overly emotional. I felt deeply uncomfortable after watching it. I couldn't bear to continue with the tragic story, much less witness the brutal acts of the Japanese devils, so I left the theater early. Some critics have suggested that this approach easily degenerates into a "hate narrative," meaning it provides viewers with more shock than reflection. Some critics have criticized the film for undermining deeper consideration of the root causes of war (such as how militarism erodes democracy) and for lacking balanced historical reflection, which could leave viewers mired in anger rather than reflection.

Overall, while there may be a modicum of reflection, it's drowned out by the sheer volume of atrocities, making it difficult to dominate the narrative. This reflects the dilemma facing Chinese films when tackling historical themes: they must adhere to the official standard of "remembering history and cherishing peace," yet they easily fall prey to sentimentality.

Back to reality, there have been at least two incidents this year alone in which Japanese civilians, especially children, were attacked in China. Given the Chinese society's preference for "standard answers" (i.e., official narratives dominate and there is little tolerance for diverse perspectives), the consequences of this film are unimaginable.

The director and writers of this film primarily uses the actors' dialogue to directly convey the core ideas he wants to convey, lacking any room for audience to think about it by themselves. This makes it seem rather blunt, and many issues are delivered through very blunt slogans, lacking any details.

To some extent, this is a political propaganda film that uses real criminal cases for deep reflection but directly gives the audience the answers through the most straightforward lines.

To be fair, don't be biased, both advantages and disadvantages are obvious.

The advantage lies in the structural reshaping, which is a balance limited by space. The inverted ending is a creative innovation in artistic creation, while also leaving blank space, which is very clever.

I think actress who played Wang Xifeng and actor who played Jia Baoyu have the best dialogue in the whole film, clear and pleasant, and their personalities are also very prominent.

The disadvantage is that the pace is too fast, the main story line is unclear, and there is no focus at all. To be frank, it's like watching a super long trailer, and as soon as I get my appetite up, the plot switches to the next part, and there's not a single plot that's finely crafted for people to chew on.

Lin Daiyu's personality is not fully displayed, appearing to be very petite. In addition, the actor's lines are weak, as if she were reciting very single word as hard as she can, which further reduces her score.

Overall, with so much content stuffed into this movie, it's clear that the whole cast and crew have put in a lot of effort to score a passing grade.