JOHN RABE is a well-enough-made war movie set in Nanking at the time of the Japanese siege.
*minor spoilers ahead*
The story is fairly cookie-cutter (though "true"). In fact, the 'hero' John Rabe does not really seem to be much of one, though nor is he an anti-hero. He is more or less a corporate (Siemens) functionary with a solid German character. He is also as it happens a Nazi party member (as were many) and a firm believer in Hitler (as were many), who does not find much reason to question these beliefs during the span of the film. Fine. At the end, when throngs of Chinese chant his name as the Japanese expel him from Nanking, it is both jarring and perplexing, since he doesn't really appear to have much to do with the people of Nanking during the movie. We can therefore only assume his legend preceded him... although nothing up till this point had suggested this Rabe might be the stuff of legend.
*spoilers end*
As usual, a ragtag band of white people (led by two "principled Germans", proving "they weren't all bad" a la Schindler and von Stauffenberg) set the moral tone and fight courageously to protect the hapless and defenseless "native" population. That may in fact have been the case, though I really tend to doubt it. And, even if it was exactly thus, it is a scarcely defensible narrative for such a movie in 2009.
In the final analysis JOHN RABE seems to have been made as crowd-pleasing award-bait, and judging by the German Film Awards it has racked up it can already be judged as success in those terms. Although the film industry in Germany being what it is, that could also mean simply that there wasn't much in the way of competition this year...
Gallenbarter, a 'blue-blood' who won a short film Oscar several year's ago, and who specializes in cultural appropriation (though at least there were a couple of Europeans in this one, not just poor/wretched people of colour), will have wanted to be sure that the fate of his little-watched first feature would not be replicated here. Thus the broadest of broad strokes, sweeping orchestral movements to let us know when we should be feeling something, nothing remotely controversial or 'interesting'... again, in terms of its apparent objectives JOHN RABE can only be termed a success.
Juergen Juerges' cinematography as always provides a bright stop in the otherwise unremarkable proceedings.
*minor spoilers ahead*
The story is fairly cookie-cutter (though "true"). In fact, the 'hero' John Rabe does not really seem to be much of one, though nor is he an anti-hero. He is more or less a corporate (Siemens) functionary with a solid German character. He is also as it happens a Nazi party member (as were many) and a firm believer in Hitler (as were many), who does not find much reason to question these beliefs during the span of the film. Fine. At the end, when throngs of Chinese chant his name as the Japanese expel him from Nanking, it is both jarring and perplexing, since he doesn't really appear to have much to do with the people of Nanking during the movie. We can therefore only assume his legend preceded him... although nothing up till this point had suggested this Rabe might be the stuff of legend.
*spoilers end*
As usual, a ragtag band of white people (led by two "principled Germans", proving "they weren't all bad" a la Schindler and von Stauffenberg) set the moral tone and fight courageously to protect the hapless and defenseless "native" population. That may in fact have been the case, though I really tend to doubt it. And, even if it was exactly thus, it is a scarcely defensible narrative for such a movie in 2009.
In the final analysis JOHN RABE seems to have been made as crowd-pleasing award-bait, and judging by the German Film Awards it has racked up it can already be judged as success in those terms. Although the film industry in Germany being what it is, that could also mean simply that there wasn't much in the way of competition this year...
Gallenbarter, a 'blue-blood' who won a short film Oscar several year's ago, and who specializes in cultural appropriation (though at least there were a couple of Europeans in this one, not just poor/wretched people of colour), will have wanted to be sure that the fate of his little-watched first feature would not be replicated here. Thus the broadest of broad strokes, sweeping orchestral movements to let us know when we should be feeling something, nothing remotely controversial or 'interesting'... again, in terms of its apparent objectives JOHN RABE can only be termed a success.
Juergen Juerges' cinematography as always provides a bright stop in the otherwise unremarkable proceedings.