The Truth about Nanjing (2007)

The Truth about Nanjing (南京の真実, Nankin no shinjitsu) is a 2007 film by Japanese nationalist filmmaker Satoru Mizushima about the 1937 Nanking Massacre.

The film was backed by nationalistic figures including Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara and public donations, and was intended to expose what the filmmakers saw as propaganda aspects of the Nanking Massacre. Less than a month before the 70th anniversary of the Nanjing massacre, the director said in an interview that Japanese war criminals were martyrs who were made into scapegoats for war crimes as Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross in order to bear the sins of the world, and they died bearing all of old Japan's good and bad parts. He also claimed that the Nanjing Massacre was a politically motivated frame-up by China and the numerous Western eyewitnesses, whose accounts form the basis of the historical understanding of the Nanjing Massacre. These accounts were, according to the filmmakers, espionage activities.

Mizushima said that the project was meant to counter the film Nanking, a 2007 American documentary, which he believed was "based on fabrications and gives a false impression" and which he perceives to be a "setup by China to control intelligence".

Synopsis

The first section was "Seven condemned criminals" (The theme is Class A war criminals.) This part shows the last day of the seven people who were condemned to death in 1948 by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and executed on 23 December 1948 at Sugamo Prison, Tokyo. The film focuses on Iwane Matsui's campaign in Nanking through flashbacks. Focus is put on each of the seven men.

Acteurs