City of War: The Story of John Rabe Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

City of War: The Story of John Rabe Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 26, 2010

Winner of four German Film Awards, Florian Gallenberger's "John Rabe" a.k.a "City of War: The Story of John Rabe" (2009) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Metrodome Video. The supplemental features on the disc include a making of featurette and original theatrical trailer. In German, English, Mandarin, and Japanese, with imposed English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Destroyed

When in 1937 the Japanese Imperial Army invaded China, John Rabe was the Director of the German Industrial Siemens factory in Nanking. Rabe was also a loyal member of the Nazi Party.

When the Japanese arrived in Nanking and began exterminating the civilian population, Rabe, together with a few other Westerners who were in the city, formed a Safety Zone – an area within the city which Japanese and Chinese soldiers were not allowed to enter. Though the Safety Zone could handle approximately 100 000 people, more than 200 000 entered it.

Outside of the Safety Zone, the Japanese killed approximately 300 000 Chinese soldiers and civilians (between 60 000 – 70 000 women were also raped). Rabe, assisted by a number of foreign diplomats who chose to stay in Nanking after the Japanese arrived, attempted to protest the massacres but could not do much other than welcome as many people as possible in the Safety Zone. He wrote a letter to Adolph Hitler begging him to intervene but did not get a reply.

Similar to Lu Chuan’s City of Life and Death (2009), Florian Gallenberger’s John Rabe a.k.a City of War: The Story of John Rabe chronicles the notorious Nanking Massacre, which to this very day remains a very sensitive issue for Chinese and Japanese officials. City of Life and Death was a big budget Chinese-Hong Kong production while City of War: The Story of John Rabe is a German-French-Chinese co-production.

While there are some very basic similarities between City of Life and Death and City of War: The Story of John Rabe, the two films could not be any more different. Chuan’s film has a quasi-documentary look, devoid of color and emotion. Additionally, the extermination of Nanking’s residents is seen through the eyes of a lonely Japanese soldier, but he is only a secondary character, lacking convincing identity.

Gallenberger’s film is a period drama with key players that are very easy to identify. The Nanking Massacre has an important role in it, but it is these key players and their personal experience with it that Gallenberger’s film focuses on.

There are some key factual differences between the two films as well. Gallenberger’s film shows extensive official negotiations between the Japanese and the leaders of the Safety Zone. In Chuan’s film these negotiations are nowhere to be seen. Additionally, in Gallenberger’s film the mass rapes the Japanese committed while in Nanking are only suggested, while in Chuan’s film they are carefully chronicled.

German actor Ulrich Tukur (The Lives of Others) is convincing as Rabe, particularly during the second half of the film, after he loses his wife and begins reconsidering his loyalty to the Nazi Party. Gallenberger’s script, however, does not allow him to shine; many of the lines he utters throughout the film are surprisingly weak.

Steve Buscemi (Mystery Train), who plays Dr. Robert Wilson, an outspoken anti-Nazi American often at odds with Rabe, isn’t terribly convincing. His comical behavior during key scenes is very distracting. Like Tukur, Buscemi is also asked to recite a number of cliched lines.

Daniel Bruhl (Salvador) and Anne Consigny’s (A Christmas Tale) characters, Dr. Robert Wilson and Valérie Dupres, are the least romanticized ones in the film.

Cinematographer Jurgen Jurges' (Michael Haneke's Time of the Wolf) lensing is strong. The footage from inside the Safety Zone, in particular, is very effective.

Note: In 2009, City of War: The Story of John Rabe won four German Film Awards, including Outstanding Feature Film and Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Ulrich Tukur).

City of War: The Story of John Rabe Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Florian Gallenberger's City of War: The Story of John Rabe arrives on Bu-ray courtesy of British distributors Metrodome Video.

This is a very strong high-definition transfer. Fine object detail is excellent, clarity pleasing and contrast levels consistent throughout the entire film. The color-scheme is also convincing; blues, greens, reds, browns, blacks and whites are lush and well saturated. There are no traces of heavy noise reduction; the film grain is very much intact. Edge-enhancement and mactoblocking are not a serious issue of concern (there are only a couple of scenes where I noticed some extremely mild edge-enhancement creeping in). There are no serious stability issues either. Finally, I did not see any disturbing scratches, stains, marks, or debris to report in this review. All in all, this is a very strong presentation of a good film. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

City of War: The Story of John Rabe Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: German DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (with portions of English, Mandarin, and Japanese). For the record, Metrodome Video have provided imposed English subtitles for the main feature. Please note that the English subtitles appear only when German, Mandarin and Japanese are spoken. Additionally, the English subtitles appear inside the image frame.

The German DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is solid. The bass is powerful and punchy, the rear channels very active, and high-frequencies not overdone. When the Japanese planes attack Nanking, the dynamic intensity of the German DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is indeed quite impressive; the surround channels are also very intelligently used. The dialog is crisp, clean, stable and easy to follow. There are no serious balance issues with Annette Focks' music score either. Finally, while viewing City of War: The Story of John Rabe I did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, or hissings to report in this review.

City of War: The Story of John Rabe Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: The supplemental features on this Blu-ray disc are encoded in PAL. Therefore, if you reside in North America, or another region where PAL is not supported, you must have a Region-Free player capable of converting PAL to NTSC, or a TV set capable of receiving native PAL data, in order to view them.

Making of - a standard featurette with an abundance of raw footage from the shooting of the film as well as comments from cast and crew members. The featurette also contains footage from the film's premiere as well as plenty of archival footage, some of which can be seen in the film. In German and English, with imposed English subtitles. (31 min, PAL).

Trailer - the original theatrical trailer for the film. In German, with imposed English subtitles. (2 min, PAL).

City of War: The Story of John Rabe Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Florian Gallenberger's City of War: The Story of John Rabe is a good film, which I think could have been a lot stronger with a slightly different script. Nevertheless, I think that those of you who enjoy period films should certainly try to see it. If the subject of City of War: The Story of John Rabe interests you, I also recommend taking a look at Lu Chuan's terrific City of Life and Death. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of British distributors Metrodome Video, looks and sounds very good. It is also Region-Free. RECOMMENDED.