John Rabe (film)

John Rabe
Theatrical release poster
Directed byFlorian Gallenberger
Written byFlorian Gallenberger
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJürgen Jürges
Edited byHansjörg Weißbrich
Music byAnnette Focks
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 2 April 2009 (2009-04-02) (Germany)
  • 29 April 2009 (2009-04-29) (China)
  • 27 April 2011 (2011-04-27) (France)
Running time
134 minutes
Countries
  • Germany
  • China
  • France
Languages
BudgetUSD$20 million
Box office$1.5 million

John Rabe (released in the United Kingdom as City of War: The Story of John Rabe) is a 2009 biographical film directed by Florian Gallenberger, based upon John Rabe's published wartime diaries.

An international co-production between Germany, China and France, the film focuses upon the experiences of Rabe (Ulrich Tukur), a German businessman who used his Nazi Party membership to create a protective International Safety Zone in Nanjing, China, helping to save over 200,000 Chinese from the Nanjing Massacre in late 1937 and early 1938. The massacre and its associated atrocities were committed subsequent to the Battle of Nanjing by the invading Imperial Japanese Army after they defeated the Chinese Nationalist forces defending the city during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Filming commenced in 2007,[2] and it premiered at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival on 7 February 2009. Upon release, it did not receive theatrical distribution in Japan and was the subject of vociferous refutations by Japanese ultranationalists who denied the events ever took place.[3] The film was released elsewhere to mixed critical reception.

  1. ^ "John Rabe".
  2. ^ John Rabe Cast Meets With Media Archived 15 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Chinaview.cn Entertainment website, attributing CriEnglish.com, 12 November 2007. Retrieved from XinhuaNet.com.
  3. ^ McNeill, David. Nanjing Massacre 70th Anniversary: Looking Back In Anger, Japan Times, 6 December 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2012.