Review by Leonard Norwitz
Studio:
Theatrical: Media Asia
Blu-ray: Media Asia Group (HK)
Disc:
Region: FREE!
(as verified by the
Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player)
Runtime: 2:15:13.041
Disc Size: 48,295,933,092 bytes
Feature Size: 36,028,643,328 bytes
Video Bitrate: 24.98 Mbps
Chapters: 20
Case: Standard Blu-ray case
Release date: October 30th, 2009
Video:
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Resolution: 1080p / 24 fps
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio:
Dolby TrueHD Audio Chinese 2053 kbps 7.1 / 48 kHz / 2053
kbps / 16-bit (AC3 Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps)
Dolby TrueHD Audio Chinese 1958 kbps 7.1 / 48 kHz / 1958
kbps / 16-bit (AC3 Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps)
Dolby Digital Audio Chinese 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Chinese 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Subtitles:
English, Chinese (traditional and simplified), none
Extras:
• Behind the Scenes – in SD (1:47:40)
• Trailer in HD
The Film:
The scars that have devolved on succeeding generations from
the Japanese Imperial Army’s “Rape of Nanking” on the eve of
World War II have gained prominence in the news of recent
years. We recall how the Japanese government has only been
able to go so far in recognizing a national culpability. A
book of that title written by Iris Chang came into
prominence three times at least – the first time upon
publication in 1997, on the suicide of its author in 2004,
and again at the release of an incendiary documentary
inspired by her book in 2007, the year that it was at last
published in a Japanese translation. Given raw feelings are
on both sides 70 years after the destruction of the city,
the prospect of a mainstream feature film dealing with that
period is likely to be met with concern and trepidation. The
wonder is that director Lu Chuan finds humanity in the
suffering on both sides, and has made a film both impossible
to watch and yet hypnotically seductive.
Betsy Sharkey notes in her piece in the L.A. Times writes:
"Chuan follows both the occupiers and the captives with equal
sensitivity, for there are victims and villains on both
sides, as the Japanese soldiers, some barely men, soon find
that there is little justice in power. The film unfolds like
a novel with chapters that are each book-ended by the
acceptance of death, the price of living. The sadness of
that structure is only that at each stage there is the loss
of characters you've come to love. Truly a masterpiece in
black and white and pain and bound to be among the foreign
films that will be headed to the Academy Awards."
Excerpt of review from L.A. Times located HERE
Image:
9/9
The first number indicates a relative level of excellence
compared to other Blu-ray video discs on a ten-point scale.
The second number places this image along the full range of
DVD and Blu-ray discs.
Most unusual for a mainstream feature film these days, let
alone one from China, City of Life and Death is photographed
in luminous, yet gritty black & white, every shot like
wartime photojournalism in stop motion. The image is
transferred to Blu-ray with little evidence of its having
made the trip. There is occasional mild edge-enhancement and
selective DNR but, by and large, cinematographer Cao Yu’s
documentary approach is captured intact: sharpness and
detail is excellent, contrast and tonality is simply
stunning – by turns horrific, intimate and magisterial,
always emotionally riveting. As I scanned the disc searching
for frames to capture, I was saturated with a relentless
series of spellbinding images. It was difficult to make
choices, since every shot is beautifully conceived for
maximum impact.
Audio & Music:
9/8
Bear with me as I ease into this. It’s unusual for a DUB to
be presented in an uncompressed format, but so it is here.
Not that I can tell Mandarin from Cantonese, yet there is a
subtle synch difference that I check just to reassure
myself. Indeed, the main spoken languages spoken are
Mandarin and Japanese (with occasional English by Western
missionaries), so that is the mix I watched the movie with.
Dialogue struck me as crisp and I was convinced that if I
knew what was being said it was be completely intelligible.
Battle scenes are impressively mounted and the audio
supports it with appropriate crash and thunder – but not
overstated as in a typical action film. Surrounds come into
play right from the outset as a soldier awakens to the noise
of war in quick succession from back to front, above and all
around, while the weapons, vehicles and planes responsible
slide into view. No matter how dense the mix, dialogue and
subtle effects come through cleanly. The soundstage is
always convincingly filled with the ambience of the scene
before us: whether the interior of an abandoned church or
the crunch of soldiers walking carefully across the rubble a
street hit with mortar fire. Listen for the sound of a crowd
of people as it whooshes by – like an ocean wave.
Operations:
3
Perhaps I've been watching too many episodes of Lost lately,
but my Oppo's remote seemed to have some mysterious
difficulty with this disc: When I would bring up the
subtitle option during the Behind the Scenes Extra Feature,
my remote was unable to either choose any of the
possibilities, nor was it able to let go of the window.
Eventually I had to reload the disc. Curiously and happily
enough this problem did not occur during playback of the
feature film. I checked out the extra feature again, and the
problem still obtained. Weird. Subtitles are in white, easy
to read and do not intrude much into our attention in the
scene. I can't speak to their accuracy, though there was one
occasion where I was confused as to which side was saying
what.
Extras:
5
In addition to a trailer for the feature film in HD, there
is a hour and three-quarter-long behind the scenes
documentary, a good deal of which focuses on the preparation
of cast and crew for specific scenes. I was unable to
Bottom line:
9
Lu Chuan's City of Life and Death, like Beethoven's String
Quartet in C# Minor and Picasso's Guernica, is not a work we
can or should take lightly. Despite its superb imagery and
audio, I warn against the use of fragments of the movie for
demo, such is its artistic integrity and emotional power.
Highly, but cautiously recommended.
Leonard Norwitz
December 28th, 2009