Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

MartinHafer "John Rabe" is a very glossy and well done film about the actions of Rabe and a few other foreigners in saving as many of the residents of Nanking as they could during the Japanese invasion. The airplane attacks and look of the film were absolutely great--and the film is well worth seeing.I am very familiar with the story of John Rabe and used to teach my world history students about him and the Japanese destruction of Nanking (I have since retired). Much of what I'd learned were from the book "The Rape of Nanking" as well as several well made documentaries. So, I am NOT the typical person watching the story for the first time--I am a bit tougher to please. Because of this, I am much more critical that average and to me, the story was flawed because it actually seemed very sanitized. In other words, while the film DID show some of the Japanese atrocities, it didn't do much--probably because it would nauseate most viewers. BUT, by doing so, it minimized the evil that was perpetrated here--making the Japanese troops seem almost normal. It's rare, but I would have included much more blood and talked much more about the rapes and murder of children. Evil must not be minimized and here it just didn't seem as sadistic and wrong as the Rape of Nanking was.

kutubu I recently saw the Chinese film called City of Life and Death....Nanking 1938. I cried...I don't cry over films very often, but this re-creation of mans inhumanity to man got to me. Rabe did what he could for the people and we honour him for his efforts, but a film shouldn't be about just what one man did. His staff, the people that trusted him, the Japanese atrocities and the few Japanese soldiers who were against what happened, are as much about what happened as Rabe himself. It left me cold to think that the world let it all happen with a blink of an eye, but even today, we allow ourselves to be shocked? over events like Rawanda or the Congo or Iraq with the Kerds. We don't have much feeling for what has happened, really. It is so far away, it looks atrocious, but it doesn't affect us, so why should we be concerned by what has happened. It's only when it is on our doorstep that we know what it's like. I give the Chinese film, which honours Rabe a score of 10!!! They were there!!!!

imdb-557-352846 Before watching this movie, I went to Rabe's house in Nanjing and I read his diary. I was surprised that the movie does not match with the diary. Important parts are missing, and there are even contradictions at some points. For example: according to the diary, Rabe's wife Dora is outside Nanjing before the Japanese invasion starts. In the movie, Dora is still in Nanjing. And when it comes to the date that Rabe leaves Nanjing, there's also a couple of months difference between the diary and the movie. It seems as if the movie producers wanted to 'dramatize' the original story. I don't understand why. Rabe's diary is dramatic enough. My advice is to skip the movie, and read the diary instead.

Comandante666 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...