City of War: The Story of John Rabe (2009)

A true-story account of a German businessman who saved more than 200,000 Chinese during the Nanjing massacre in 1937-38.

Director:

Florian Gallenberger

Writers:

Florian Gallenberger, Erwin Wickert (book)

Stars:

Ulrich Tukur, Daniel Brühl, Steve Buscemi

8 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ulrich Tukur	...	John Rabe
Daniel Brühl	...	Dr. Georg Rosen
Steve Buscemi	...	Dr. Robert Wilson
Anne Consigny	...	Valérie Dupres
Dagmar Manzel	...	Dora Rabe
Jingchu Zhang	...	Langshu
Teruyuki Kagawa	...	Prince Asaka Yasuhiko
Mathias Herrmann	...	Werner Fließ
Tetta Sugimoto	...	Nakajima Kesago
Akira Emoto	...	Matsui Iwane
Arata Iura	...	Major Ose (as Arata)
Shaun Lawton	...	John Magee
Christian Rodska	...	Lewis Smythe
Gottfried John	...	Dr. Oskar Trautmann
Fang Yu	...	Han

Storyline

After 28 years building and managing a vast Siemens plant in Nanking, John Rabe is ordered by the new Nazi regime to close it down. Before he can pack, the Japanese army, lead unofficially by a bloodthirsty imperial uncle, lays siege to the city. Rabe accepts, as prominent representative of Japans' major European ally, to head the Western ex-pats society's plan to start and run an international zone, like worked in Shangai. Rabe however wants it to save his workers and their close ones, over 200,000, and sacrifices all his personal interests.

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Plot Keywords:

japanese occupation | japanese occupation of china | character name as title | two word title | based on real person | 

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Taglines:

History needs extraordinary heroes.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | War

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [France]

Country:

France China Germany

Language:

Cantonese Mandarin German Japanese English Ukrainian

Release Date:

2 April 2009 (Germany)

Also Known As:

City of War: The Story of John Rabe

Filming Locations:

Nanjing, Jiangsu, China

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,199, 28 May 2010

Gross USA:

$67,255

Company Credits

Production Co:

H&V Entertainment, EOS Entertainment, Majestic Filmproduktion

Technical Specs

Runtime:

134 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shanghai doubled up for Nanking in 1937. Although Shanghai is an ultra-modern city, it also has many pockets of underdeveloped real estate that have barely changed from the war years.

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Goofs

When the safety zone is being established, a banner is being hung over the portal. The mis-spelled inscription reads "INTERNATIONAL SAFTY ZONE".

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Quotes

Prince Asaka Yasuhiko: Congratulations, Major. You'll make an excellent commander one day. But I ask myself, why is it that I give orders not to take prisoners, and you arrive with thousands?
Major Ose: Please forgive me.
Japanese Officer: Your Highness.
Prince Asaka Yasuhiko: I didn't ask you to speak!
[Japanese officer steps back and bows]
Prince Asaka Yasuhiko: So, Major. What do you propose?
Major Ose: Your Highness. It would be extremely difficult to execute that many prisoners.
Prince Asaka Yasuhiko: Is that so?
Major Ose: Furthermore, I believe such executions could be considered to be illegal.
Prince Asaka Yasuhiko: Illegal? I am entrusting you ...

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Alternate Versions

German TV version features ca. 45 minutes of additional footage.

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Soundtracks

Den Zhe Ni Hui Lai
Written by Yan Zhe Xi and Yan Kua
Performed by Tang Ye Fing

User Reviews

John Rabe

I have just watched the movie 'John Rabe' three days ago at the Berlin International Film Festival. Fortunately the director was present and kind enough to answer some questions after the screening. Thank you for that.

The movie itself is about the extraordinary achievements of the then director of Siemens Naking, John Rabe, who saved several thousand Chinese people during the Japanese assault on, and capture of the city in 1937/38.

There certainly are several similarities to the case of Oscar Schindler, whose story is well documented and was made into a movie by Steven Spielberg, but those similarities are due to the story, and not because of any semblances of the two movies...

Nevertheless, the most innovative and interesting aspect of the movie 'John Rabe' is the story, which is about this extraordinary person. The movie itself, and that's really unfortunate, is partially too declamatory and rather kitschy in some parts. Some scenes actually reminded me of sad experiences such as the movie 'Pearl Harbor'. This critique may sound a little harsh, because on the whole the movie isn't too bad, but I still think it should be mentioned.

Now, if you are able to take some kitschy love scenes and some heroic moments, you might actually enjoy this movie and be able to discover a very interesting and less known story about the Second World War...