Tag line : A story that will provoke, anger and sicken.

Several years after filming "Men Behind the Sun", original director T F Mou decided to make a follow-up of sorts, this time about the atrocities committed by the Japanese during the invasion of Nanking, China in 1937.

Filmed in the style of a docu-drama, which mixes genuine news footage and historical photos into the storyline, the films starts with the conquering Japanese Imperial Army establishing their base in the Chinese capital of Nanking, then going onto break every single rule of the Geneva convention, regarding the treatment of civilians and prisoners of war.

Though not as graphic or visceral as his previous "Men Behind the Sun", "The Nanking Massacre" is still a very tough ordeal to sit through as the director shows the Japanese soldiers ruthlessly gunning down and massacring injured prisoners of war and civilians, including the young and elderly, as well as numerous scenes of the soldiers raping, looting and pillaging their way through the city in a virtual non-stop orgy of bloodshed and violence that apparently lasted 6 weeks.

Some of the more disturbing highlights include Japanese General Kyogo practicing his skills with the samurai sword by beheading half a dozen Chinese prisoners, a Japanese soldier disembowelling a young pregnant girl with his bayonet and hoisting out her foetus on the end of his rifle as she lays their dying, 2 soldiers attempting to rape a 12 year old girl and a mass cremation, where the Japanese army attempt to dispose of all the dead bodies in the city in one fail swoop.

Its disturbing enough to know that these scenes are based on fact, but more so to know that, by the directors own admission, the atrocities the Japanese committed in Nanking were far, far worse than depicted in the film, which the director describes as "not a war, but an intentional, planned and organised massacre".

Gritty, grim and disturbing. This makes an excellent companion piece to "Men Behind the Sun", and whilst not as gory, still requires a similarly strong stomach. Please note that this film should NOT be confused with the 2 unrelated sequels to "Men Behind the Sun" by Godfrey Ho, hence why the film is titled "Men Behind the Sun Part 4" in some countries, despite the fact this is the only proper sequel.

Overall Marks : 6/10.

Other Information.

• TF Mou had planned to make a third movie about Japanese atrocities entitled "No More War", but the project never got off the ground due to financial problems.

• Official figures list the total number killed during the invasion of Nanking as between 150,000 - 300,000, though some sources list figures in excess of 500,000. The vast majority of these being innocent civilians, including children and the elderly.

• The foreign missionaries running the Nanking Safety Zones caring for civilian refuges, were based on real characters. The German sporting the Nazi armband was meant to be John Rabe, who had been working for Siemens electronics in Nanking at the time and set up a large civilian refugee camp when the Japanese invaded. The American girl seen brandishing an American flag whilst remonstrating with the Japanese soldiers was based on Minnie Vautrin, who was teaching English until the Japanese invaded, then dedicated her work to harbouring refugees in the college.

• The film states that most of the senior officers involved in the atrocities were convicted of war crimes and executed at the end of WW2. However, it should be noted that none of the Japanese Imperial Family ever stood trial, despite the fact Prince Asaka and Prince Kan'in were both in charge of the armed forces in Nanking at the time thanks to an agreement with General MacArthur.

• The Japanese atrocities at Nanking were used as the basis for the 1944 US propaganda film "Why we fight" which is included in the US DVD of the film by "Unearthed films".

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