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, John Rabe (diaries)

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	...	Col. Nakajima Kesago
Akira Emoto	...	Gen. 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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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

There is a scene where Dr. Rosen and John Rabe are drinking together and then join in a duet of "Hitler. He only had one ......". This was set just before Xmas 1937. The song is not believed to have been written until 1939. (Autobiography Fringe Benefits, by writer Donough O'Brien where he says that the original was written in August 1939 by his father, Toby O'Brien)

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Quotes

Dr. Lewis Smythe: This is a war, not a dancing class. We can't save everyone.

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Alternate Versions

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

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Soundtracks

Ya Lai Xiang
Written by Li Jin Guang
Performed by Tang Ye Fing

User Reviews

Some explanation about the reception...

... essentially all has been said, but some reviews criticize the diversions from the original story. These would seem to have something to do with Chinese censorship following concerns about economic cooperation with Japan. That may explain the sometimes disjointed story structure, and the inclusion of a 'good' Japanese officer warning the Germans about imminent danger to the safety zone, while there is still ample display of Japanese brutality - even though, if you ever visited the memorial in Nanjing itself, you'll find these rather tame in comparison to the photos there.

At the time of its release in Germany, reviews were largely negative because Rabe's Nazi Party membership was downplayed in the film. His naivety in regard to Hitler is portrayed (writing him letters urging Hitler to intervene on behalf of the safety zone), but this was seen as way too ambivalent. Gallenberger was criticized for making a 'big' film with Hollywood clichés. And instead of a competition slot at the Berlinale, the film was screened as a 'Special' because the festival apparently shied away from controversy. Having only seen it now for these reasons, I must say that these complaints are exaggerated. There's nothing wrong with a German director trying to make a real cinematic feature instead of an overblown TV production, as it is usually the case. And Gallenberger was certainly the right man for the job, given his previous endeavor of a German Bollywood film. Sadly, the entirely justified vilification of the Nazi regime still clouds the perception of individuals living in that era, and there's some sort of German instinct to snap at everything that could be even remotely interpreted as euphemism - which isn't the case here.

What I really liked about the film was that it clarifies that the safety zone was an international 'joint venture' so to speak, instead of being due to the efforts of Rabe alone. Buscemi played all the right keys with his character, and still restrained his presence to allow Ulrich Tukur to take central stage. And his performance is definitely worth the BlueRay. He is one of the very few German actors with aura; Daniel Brühl, in my opinion, isn't, but he's pretty good here, as his scenes with Tukur are balanced very well.

If you found John Rabe's story amazing, you might be interested in the even more controversial Johannes Lepsius, who was the principal witness of the Armenian Genocide during World War I - under similar circumstances, as Germany and Turkey were allies, as with the Japanese at the time of the Nanjing Massacre. I couldn't help but think of that while watching 'John Rabe' - that a film based on Lepsius would be far more controversial than this one, since Turkey denies the Armenian genocide to this day even more vehemently than Japan denies Nanjing.

I give 'John Rabe' 8/10 because I feel this film has been treated a little harshly, but 7.5 sounds just about right.

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:

John Rabe

Filming Locations:

Nanjing, Jiangsu, China

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,892, 23 May 2010

Gross USA:

$67,519

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,484,665

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