Nanjing! Nanjing! 2009

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: The horrors it represents can be almost too difficult to watch, yet you keep watching because Mr. Lu makes the case that you must. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: One should remember Schindler's List, and the off-putting way beauty hung in the throat alongside evil. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: This is hardly a film to recommend as entertainment. As an act of remembrance, though, it is singular and, in its way, soaring. Read more

John Hartl, Seattle Times: In almost any form, the story of the Nanking atrocities can leave you profoundly shaken. But Lu Chuan's version may be the most compassionate and emotionally satisfying treatment to date. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: Lu Chuan's powerful epic City Of Life And Death threads the needle beautifully, capturing the breadth of the slaughter and barbarism without dehumanizing either side. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: Lu does more with the first 50 minutes than some directors accomplish in 10 movies. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Here, in bloodless miniature, is the true obscenity of war. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: It is not an easy film, and perhaps a touch too relentless, but it is a great reminder of how bloody, mad and awful this world can be. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: It's a film strong enough to change your life, if you can bear to watch it at all. Read more

Richard Brody, New Yorker: The torments endured by the Chinese don't need Lu's lapel-grabbing tactics... Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Directed by Lu Chuan, it's a fascinating film, and an unusual entry in the current Chinese cinema. Read more

David Lewis, San Francisco Chronicle: Lu Chuan makes this feature film soar by telling the story both through the eyes of the Japanese occupiers and the defenseless Chinese civilians in the ancient capital. It makes the savagery all the more senseless. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Lu tells the heartbreaking, nearly unbearable story with compassion, controlled fury and unflinching realism. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Exquisitely shot in black and white, with a rare attention to detail and dramatic complexity, "City of Life and Death" is a timelessly great film that commands our collective attention. Read more

J. Hoberman, Village Voice: Lu's distinction lies in the cinematic virtuosity he brings to orchestrating carnage, the calculated attention he pays to human interest, and the globalist, universalizing attitude inherent in both. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: It's a muscular, physical movie, pieced together from arresting imagery and revelatory gestures, large and small. Read more