Dont Cry, Nanking

Plot

The story focuses on a family, a Chinese doctor, his pregnant Japanese wife and their two children, who escaped the Battle of Shanghai hoping to seek refuge in the capital where the doctor was born.

Being Japanese, the wife must hide her origins to the Chinese citizens, but soon upon their arrival, the city is invaded by the Imperial Japanese Army and this time, it is the father who tries to hide his identity as the family tries to reach the safety zone established by the International Committee for Nanking Safety Zone.

Among historical characters such as John Rabe and Minnie Vautrin (whose names have been curiously changed to John Robbins and Whitney Craft in the English translation), the film also features an out-of-context excerpt of the infamous Contest to kill 100 people using a sword between Toshiaki Mukai and Tsuyochi Noda.

There are some painful and brutal scenes such as the execution, by machine gun, of thousands of Chinese prisoners of war.

Being produced before the publishing of such books like Iris Chang's The Rape of Nanking and Herbert Bix's Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan, the movie shows General Iwane Matsui giving the order to "kill all the captives" and omits any reference to Prince Asaka.

Cast

Reception

Upon its release in 1995, the movie grossed HK$2,102,915 in Hong Kong. The film was not released in Japan until December 1997, nearly two years after its completion.