The human touch

By Liu Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-04-14 09:29

"Some historians have the childish logic that because we did not resist, the massacre becomes more evil," Lu says. "That is ridiculous. It is totally rational for people to fight back when their land is invaded."

In the film Lu creates four Chinese characters both historical and fictional. An officer resists to the last moment; a teacher loses her own life to protect others; a prostitute stands up when the Japanese come to the safety zone for women, and a secretary tries his best to protect his family and compatriots.

"I want to tell the audience that our ancestors were not cowards," he says. "Their salvation, self-salvation and the spirit behind are supporting the nation till today.

"To tell their story is very much a motivation for me to make the film."

More groundbreaking and potentially more controversial is the depiction of the Japanese troops.

Rarely in Chinese films about that massacre, in which about 300,000 civilians and soldiers lost their lives, are Japanese soldiers portrayed as human beings and not as monsters.

In Lu's film, soldiers share happy moments making a pot of tasty soup, and one young trooper falls in love with a comfort woman. It was the first time he ever had sex.

At the same time, these soldiers were part of an army, which operated under a strict code of discipline and became a fine-tuned killing machine. But Lu does not demonize them.

"Demonizing your enemy is insulting yourself," Lu says. "We must face the question that who defeated us 72 years ago. Otherwise we never really learn from the massacre."

Lu cast about 50 Japanese actors in the $12 million film. He chose actors who had never set foot on mainland soil and probably experienced the same culture shock as their characters did when they arrived in China.

To prepare the Japanese actors, who knew nothing or little about the history, Lu took many historic photographs and old film footage to Japan.

He promised Japanese actors he would not demonize them or portray them as clowns in the film. The director also told the actors to perform in the same way they thought their great grandfathers would.

"Maybe I cannot make myself love the Japanese troops, but I try to understand them," he says.

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