This reaction was filmed over 3 months ago along with the other videos with my dad over the span of a week, and they are just in a queue to be translated and is released now because its the most recent one to be finished. Nothing to do with timing with current world events.
The fact that your dad can keep highlighting the atrocities committed even directly upon his own family by Imperial Japan, and then go on to say, "We are all people of this earth, I do not understand racism." Shows he's a good man. Not harbouring hate or holding a grudge for the Japanese people as a whole, but a disgust at its military action, which is totally fair.
All the same, as a citizen of a country where this story happened, it makes me sleep easier knowing that three generations of Germans now have been taught at school that fascism is wrong. Too bad Russia did not go that route.
Depending on what county you live in depends on how that story is told. I know as an American the atrocities committed by the Nazis upon the Jews, Russians, Gypsies etc were highlighted and definitely talked about. However, most Americans have no idea how bad the Japanese treated the Chinese, Philippine, Korean etc. The stories of their occupation are as bad if not worse in some places. Idk why but those perspectives are not emphasized. Terrible
He is a veteran. In my experience, some of the most honorable and diehard pacifists are war veterans as they are the ones who have seen and lived the horrors of war first hand. I am not one but I have read a lot about the history of war and the more I Iearn about wars of the past the more I try to promote peace.
The Rape Of Nanjing or the Nanjing Massacre is one of the most brutal events in the history of the world and I will never forget the day I watched a documentary on it.
@@thefilmeffect6089I read Iris Chang’s book. It’s a shame what her efforts to bring that story to the world did to her. That atrocity affected more than just that generation.
It's seems like they are not teaching any actual history in public Schools (among w/ the other absolute essentials) ,as things like this & especially Japan taking China is not known at all , by these new younger generations . Hopefully this will change back to teaching actual education & history again . Once they purge these new disgusting ,fake brainwashers currently in place .
It's one of countless tragedies of the world, where modern problems of a country can be traced back to things done either by an earlier regime, or in that case, by another nation's dehumanizing imperialism... Like he said, why is it so hard for humans to recognize each others' humanity..? We have gone from recognizing what we could do with a brush fire to literally harnessing the power of the sun in vastly different ways, figured out how to make geometric patterns of sand and metal not only think for us, but allow us to communicate with each other like this very comment... Yet we're literally still no better than any other complex animal, we're the worst of them, and nearly the worst of all known forms of life... What the fuck are we if the worst of us are still allowed to run around justifying doing things like this?
Problem is unlike the holocaust, with Jewish victims, are so immortalized in our current memory, the suffering of Chinese people is largely seen in the west as a fabrication of the Chinese communist party. I don’t know how many times I tried to educate a westerner about what happened in China and they think I am the one who is brainwashed. Very similar things will happen soon to Chinese to a much larger scale than the holocaust I’m afraid
Ralph Fiennes who played Goeth, met one of the survivors who was an advisor while filming the movie. She was an old woman at the time of course. But Fiennes, who rather looks like Goeth, was in uniform, and the poor old woman had a panic attack. He, of course, felt terrible. A great actor.
Mila Pfefferberg wasn't an advisor but her husband Leopold Pfefferberg was (credited in the movie as a consultant under his alternate name Leopold Page). They were both Płaszów survivors and Schindler Jews. Spielberg invited some Holocaust survivors to visit the set during filming including Mila, and Fiennes unfortunately happened to be in costume when they came across him. She didn't have an outright panic attack but she was deeply unsettled by the resemblance and shook.
45:00 I have to agree with your father there. The way Japan (and a lot of other nations) still refuse to take responsibility for their historic atrocities is more than shameful. The first step in healing is admitting something is or was wrong.
Not unlike how many in the US are trying to cleanse the history textbooks of anything that makes the slavery practices bad. One group is releasing (supposedly) educational videos that have Columbus saying it was okay he took slaves because that was better than death.
It's wrong but it's cultural. Japanese in general don't like confrontation and don't like to discuss shame or negative emotions out in the open. People throw themselves in front of trains instead of admitting gambling debt to their wives or parents.
@@haroldlipschitz9301 Doesn't mean it's right. Lots of things don't make sense culturally, that's why people learn and evolve. Aren't they also supposed to be "noble and honorable" culturally? Edit: The younger generations in Japan, although still not as a majority, are however starting to realise what they've done and do feel apologetic/sympathetic. I'm not saying the government is admitting it's crimes, but what I'm saying is many of the youngsters (many of them, not most of them), who are growing up in a less isolationist environment than their predecessors are more aware of such things. So maybe as Japan globalises more, it's youth will lead the way in more empathy towards the victims of their ancestors.
@@rkang6531 Didn’t say it’s right, but it is an engrained behavior for the majority. The younger generation are much more open, but many of them are also inwardly focused and don’t want to engage on ‘global’ issues
My grandmother was also kidnapped by the Japanese in the Philippines to try and get her to give up where my grandfather was. When I took care of her at the height of her Alzheimer's some of the scariest times were when she would wake up thinking that anyone moving outside was the Japanese coming for my grandfather.
My great grandma was Polish and there during WW2. Even being spared some of the worst atrocities since we aren't Jewish I still have a dim memory of the tattoo on her arm. She had dementia if I remember correctly and similar to your grandmother would wake up fearing that the nazis were on the way and would run out of the house trying to get away. Damn the people and systems that let such atrocities happen
@@seanrush3723 We had elections last week in my country, and the PVV, a fascist, xenophobic party led by a guy called Geert Wilders won the majority vote. They want to make the netherlands "number one" again. I am extremely disappointed in my fellow countrymen. They wish to expell people from the netherlands that they don't consider dutch and suppress the islam. It's improbable that there will be a coalition with this party, as a lot of the party's goals are unconstitutional, but that's what people said before the nazis gained power too. I'm worried about the future of my country, about my friends who have "foreign" ancestry, who are refugees, and of course about my own future. I feel debilitated. How do I fight this?
Sir Ben Kingsley. He got knighted for his skills and services in the drama field, and rightly so. (Another praise for his acting right here, in these reactions. ❤)
As a Polish person who learned a lot about WW2 in Europe throughout my education, but not much about other places in the world I find it incredibly interesting to see/hear different perspectives. We never really learned much about Asia's history at school, and this video inspired me to fix that mistake.
I cant imagine being Polish and learning about WW2!!! So many terrible countries came in and through many times and pretty much destroyed everything along the way.
I have a very strange question. When learning about WW2 who does it feel treated Poland worse Germany or Russia? I'm assuming obviously Germany but I didn't know if the soldiers themselves behaved differently
@@menwithven8114 shortly is was definetly Germany, their crimes are was far worse what Russians did. Russians hated any resistance, they killed and tortued but mostly our revistance movement or people that were a threat to communism while Germans killed, put into death camps anyone, civilians, children. Germans also did experiments/tortures on people. We don't have to learn about WW2, the history of war is still alive, few years back my grandfather was still alive, he was sent to Germany for forced labor, Germans took everything from him back then.There are endless stories of WW2 events i don't want to write here. In a lot of our big cities you can still find building with bulets holes in their walls...
Thanks for having your dad again with us. Its truly amazing hearing his perspective. I like hearing his thoughts on the other videos you put up with him. I personally feel, Its a shame because during WW2 China, like Russia, was our ally as well. Now there's this unnecessary divide because of politicians. Hopefully some day we can all have world harmony.
I’m glad your dad brought up Unit 731. No one ever hears about it, only Mengele who was of course a monster but what was done in Unit 731 is just on another level. I understand why there is so much animosity between the Japanese and Chinese…. It’s only natural those wounds take a long time to heal….
@@grahamstrouse1165 Unit 731 should be part of the History class in European countries, for 8th graders, what they did is even more terrifying than all the nazi atrocities put together.
Your dad is a lovely person. Such compassionate, insightful, humane thoughts. You two had a very good communication, exchanging your thoughts and experiences. History really is important.
yeah always thought it was weird. Germans today still have to deal with all the stuff that came with WW2, yet Japan lives in care free world where majority of the people on the planet have no idea about their insane war crimes in WW2. constantly used as an example what a "great" country looks like in 2023, not knowing that just 80 years (really not that long ago) it was fascist imperial war crime machine. the Japan you know and love today is mainly because of America intervention after the war.
I'm German and I feel kinda bad that our school system has not and still is not teachung us anything about the history around the Asian continent, especially during the WW2 era, where on the other side we had history lessons for years about the European side only. Also, through you, I've learned about John Rabe, a name I have never encountered before, even though I'm quite interested in history. I even live in the City he was born in and lived for 10 years in the city he died. Since I've never encountered his name in my life, I'm afraid he's extremely unknown in Germany, as a German. Quite sad.
In the UK we learn only about the glorious victory of Britain over the Germans. Not Nazis, Germans. That sentiment and xenophobia still exists today. Ironically among far-right groups like the EDL who seem to worship Churchill and Nazi ideology at the same time.
Well, most Nazis even stayed in power here or got extra careers on top, inside NATO. Overall Cold War was the continuation of 2.WW under a new Führer - and it's mainly the nukes which kept it cold, because while fascists love to kill and let die, the hate to die themselves. Instead we got proxy wars - still with millions of dead. I also "love" how we focus so much on jewish victims in 2.WW - while way more none jewish were murdered, especially soviets - and after that chinese (of course less by the hand of european Nazis, but that's indeed no reason to not talk about it).
Thanks to you and your father, I have also learned more about China history. I was vaguely aware of the Nanking massacre, which I didn't learned in school, but I didn't realised what it represented for Chinese peoples and the extend of the horror that happened. I'm going to do some research thanks to this video, so we can all understand each others better, as humans from the same world. Let's hope for a brighter future together, and fight for it if it become necessary. Cheers from France
The Japanese massacre in Asia was absolutely horrific. It’s good that they’ve become a much better nation, a better people. But it’s shameful that they refuse to acknowledge their past.
We really appreciate you taking the extra time and effort to bring us these videos with your dad. He's a special fella whose wisdom needs to be heard by a lot of folks out there
I'm also a veteran. I knew that I had to watch this film when it came out, but it took a few years to get round to it. All my life all I had known was the Army. We'd even lived in Germany for almost a decade. I'd grown up with, lived inside of, and enjoyed German culture, its food and its people, whilst we were in and just starting to come out of the cold war. The history of WWII wasn't lost on me, but this specific story wasn't something I knew about. So, this came out in '93, and I got round to seeing it in '97 during my initial Army training. I made sure that I wasn't going to be interrupted, closed the door, and .... by the end, that final scene, I was a complete mess, and for quite a while. When this was in the cinema, my parents still lived on a military base (in the UK). My Mum told me that our neighbours had told how they drove back from the cinema, in complete silence, stopped in the driveway, looked at each other and just held each other in tears for about 10 minutes, before regaining their composure and going into their house. This film, together with some of the closing episodes of Band of Brothers, when they are liberating the camps and dealing with the aftermath, should be part of the National Curriculum. It is so important that every generation understands the mistakes of the past in the hope that the chance of them being repeated is reduced. Sadly, during my lifetime, places like Chechnya, Bosnia (ethnic cleansing), Kosovo (ethnic cleansing), Ukraine (targeting of civilians, murder, kidnapping etc), Iraq (chemical weapons used by Saddam Hussein against the marsh Arabs), and more, have also seen horrific atrocities committed. If only we, as a species, could learn from the lessons of the past.
I constantly hear about people watching this in school. I saw it in the theater when it came out. I've never been in a quieter theater. People were walking out to their cars in complete silence afterwards.
@@Deathbird_Mitch I can quite believe it. It's one of those few films that its main purpose is that of education rather than entertainment, even though there are some incredible performances by the stellar cast. I think one of the most evocative cinema experiences I have had was Black Hawk Down. The sound was phenomenal, based on a true story also, and incredibly well shot by Ridley Scott.
Its amazing how you can see another holocaust like this one happening in real time on socia media, with the exact same method but by people who were victims of this movie. Europeans are quite something. They let this horrible thing to happen to Jewish people on their lands, and then sick the suvivors and the most evil of them into a patch of land in middle east and fund them to control resources of the region, and then brand the owners of the lands who resist as terror-doers. I just shake my head.
@@Deathbird_Mitch I am German and I was still in school when the movie was shown in Germany. I did not watch it then, for reasons that escape me today. I watched it a year or two later when it first was shown on German TV. I was alone in my parents' house and I damn near cried until I was hoarse. Since then, I make a point to myself to watch this at least once a year. It kills me every damn time, and it is always a different scene that opens the floodgates. I became a father late in life. I am 48, and my daughter is five. She looks a lot like the "Girl in Red", and even thinking about her scenes makes my eyes well up. The womb is still fertile whence that evil came, and I for one will not allow my country to walk down that road to hell again. I'll kill and if necessary die to prevent that. And I am not alone.
Listening to the two of you talk about the war makes me wish I'd have had your father as a source for my final paper in my Chinese History class in college. It was easily the most interesting class I took for my History degree, as it was taught with the films of Zhang Yimou. I came away from that class firmly believing that American schools should have a lot more curriculum on China, particularly on what is known as the "Century of Humiliation," how it led to the events of the 20th century (both in Europe and Asia), and why it is important to the events of today.
MY grandparents were Holocaust survivors. Sadly, 63 members of my family perished in Poland (some fighting the Nazi occupation, some in death camps.) I love your channel and you and your family have my admiration and respect. Thank you for doing this video. Failure to study and comprehend history dooms us to repeat it.
spielberg made this and jurassic park at the same time, he said it nearly killed him, jumping back and forth from holocaust and survivors to animatronic dinosaurs, just imagine, hard to not see him as the best director ever after that, hell of a film, very important film
Unit 731 was so cruel and inhumane that there were even Nazi officers who saw it as a monstrous operation. In the US, at least when I graduated school (early 2000s), Unit 731 barely gets a mention.
The History Channel (years ago when it actually did real history) did a documentary on Unit 731. The Japanese cover story was it was a lumber mill. In keeping with this story, the railroad cars that brought the test subjects were, in a sick joke by the guards, were called "kubotdey" (spell?) or logs in Japanese.
Goth in this film is reportedly tamer than the real one b/c the latter was so monstrous that he came off as almost unbelievable. The modern trend in writing villains is to make their motivations understandable. You'll hear lots of film enthusiasts preach that making a one-dimensional antagonist who's just evil for the sake of evil and only cares for money is the wrong way to go. It's almost as if the film is trying to give Amon a character arc regarding power & attraction, as well as attempting to provide answers on why he is the way he is. Only for him to reject that exploration and immediately go back to the pleasure of violence. A reminder that monsters do exist in real life no matter if they're human. On the other end of the spectrum, there's Oskar's complexity. We sense that he's changing throughout the story, but it's never made explicit just how much prior to him actually making the list. For he has to be subtle about how he does things in the world that he's operating in.
My grandfather was a pilot in world War II and he was stationed in China up to the end of the war. The oldest video on my RU-vid channel is an interview with him. I know there's almost no chance it happened but some part of me hopes your grandfather and my grandfather met at some point.
George, please send your father love and appreciation from all of us (and to you and Simone as well, of course.) But this “series” has been one of my favorites. Your father is a good man, which seems to run in the family. Much love.
Thank you for this reaction, it was really cool hearing your dad’s insight into this part of history and seeing y’all experience this powerful film together.
I read somewhere that survivors only concern regarding accuracy on the film was that it didn't show the level of cruelty to the level it actually was, and Spielberg said he knew that it didn't but he thought that if he did it would not be believed, that he was exaggerating when he was actually underplaying it
A guy bought an original VW Beatle that was made before the war, and brought it back to build it new again. When they started to reupholster the seats, the padding inside was mixed colored human hair. Same with the seating in the tanks and planes. One of my uncles liberated a camp, and spoke of a pile of baby shoes up to the ceiling in a warehouse.
I find your dad's takes on things so interesting. I hope for more from you two. He kind of reminds me of a Chinese version of my grandfather, who fought in Europe during WW2.
Watching and listening to your Cantonese helps me brush up on mines. It’s interesting to hear the way you speak Cantonese as it’s the same way my family and I speak. I hear my parents talk about the atrocities towards the Chinese during WW2 and the words my parents use. I didn’t really understand the definitions of those words until I see the captions hear.
There were 3 Steven Spielberg WWII movies that I have seen, all masterpieces in my opinion. One happens in Asia: The Empire of The Sun. I would love to see you both react to that one.
I've seen many reactions to this movie. Two have been my favorite reactions. One was by a German who gave their perspective and this one because of the conversation between you and your father. Especially the conversation before the movie began. Thank you.
I too have watched several reactions from people all over the world. It is interesting as an American to hear their perspectives. One of my favourites was by a German woman. Her reaction to JoJo Rabbit was also enlightening.
My son read The Rape of Nanking. I could not get through it because it was so horrifying. You observe that if powerful people dehumanize a group of people, then they are free to treat them however they wish. It's so true. We put these horrible times behind us only to be confronted with new terrors that are happening now. It's devastating. I enjoyed your reaction and appreciate the history your father shares.
I always love your channel but having your dad here was such a pleasure and an honor listening to him. He’s the reason we should respect and revere our elders. He’s a wise and kind man. I hope you know just how lucky you are to have him in your life. I suspect you do.
You should react to the Belarus war film "Come and See" from 1985. It's extremely disturbing and realistic and makes American war films look tame in comparison.
Been my favourite film for decades. But also one of the most painfull films to watch I've ever seen. Not sure how easy it will be to find it with Chinese subtitles tho.
I really enjoyed watching you and your dad reacting to Schindler's List. I really like your dad he offered a very unique perspective on the Holocaust, one which I think is not easily represented because I think people somehow believe they have been removed from it. I think the most wonderful moment was when I saw your dad wipe away tears watching Schindler break down and thinking he had not done enough when he did so much. I really like his take on saving lives, it is more meritorious to save a life than to build a seven-year Pagoda.❤
This is a must watch movie for everyone and needs to be shown so these events are never forgotten. I was fortunate enough to have two Schindler Jews speak to my high school in 1999.
i first learned about the Japanese invasion of China from old american war movies as a kid, there are a few of them made in the early 40's John Wayne's Flying Tigers comes to mind
Once again, your father was amazing in his way. I liked what he said "One kind of rice feeds a hundred kind of people" and that we are all humans! He said many more things that stuck with me, but these two things really resonated with me the most! Thank you both for enduring and experiencing the movie for our entertainment. It was a heavy topic and a very thought provoking movie and reaction!
Thank you so much for doing this film and this type of format, with your father. I learned about things I never knew about, just in the first few minutes, from listening to what your father had to share with us. I look forward to watching this reaction, and especially any reactions with your father.... His words are a GIFT to younger people, really all people in the world.
That room of hair you mentioned - there is footage of that in an extremely disturbing documentary called Night and Fog, which I watched at school (it was actually a class about cinema, not the war, so we primarily discussed the film-making techniques). The film was assembled from footage taken by the liberating armies. A room of hair, a room of shoes, a room of skulls (for harvesting gold teeth), and large crowds of starving prisoners, It's not something I'll forget.
49:45 As a Ukrainian who lives in Ukraine may just add that the same cruelty that we've faced is happening right at the point when people forget history. Wish you luck and thank you for this reaction. ❤
The scene when Schindler cracks at the end is the second hardest scene for me in the movie. The hardest is the epilog with all the survivors and their descendants. It shows what it means to have saved these people. They could have a full life, have children and those also live full lifes. And it shows what a huge scale his impact had. Just how many lives. And yet, it was just a tiny drop compared to the full scale of the Shoa itself. How many descendants could there be, if all the victims of this genozide would have lived? It's just so many more. In that scene before the end Schindler knows his impact wasn't that big in the grand scheme of things, but it was very, very meaningful. Every life he saved was meaningful and every other life would also have been meaningful. And when I think about it, about the numbers and about the lifes behind those numbers, I usually crack like him...
I went to high school in Canada and for what it’s worth we talked about Nanking, as well as other things previous generations didn’t like the residential schools. So things are getting marginally better.
@@RideAcrossTheRiver I mean as does the states? Like I don’t think a president has done something as embarrassing as literally shaking hands with a nazi; at the same time most politicians in the states’ federal government are for genocide in some capacity. I don’t think there’s a single conservative politician who cares about cracking down on holocaust deniers lol.
I think it’s very brave and kind of your dad to watch movies that bring back such raw and difficult memories for him. Thank you from all of us, and I hope he sets aside time to be gentle with himself ❤️
This was incredible - big thank you to you and your dad for shedding light on the Nanking Massacre. Growing up Chinese in England, I remember trying to write my History paper on this and was rejected due to lack of “credible” academic materials. Not only were we not taught any of this parallel world history, it was incredibly hard to self-learn back then too 😢
Thank you for recording the part where your father talks about Nanking, I am 60 have known about it all my life but your father's perspective is important, there can never be enough of these reactions with him. It was a precious moment to be able to see the picture of your grandparents.
These reaction videos are very interesting, to get a Chinese perspective on the subjects - from a veteran as well. I think "The Last Emperor" would be a great movie to watch and react to, given the topic. Keep up the good work!
Damn, I'm sorry to hear about the pain your family endured from the war. My Mother's side is Filipino, and my Grandmother, a child during the war, recounted similar stories before she passed.
Please don’t forget Nicholas Winton. A British man who saved over 600 Jewish children on the ‘kinder transport’ A very quiet humble man. Our dear Queen knighted him several years ago Sir Nicholas Winton. They made a film this year about his life called ‘One life’. Rest in peace Sir Nicholas.
33:45 The stuff on Amon's nails was the stain from the tub that the kid claimed couldn't be removed, the kid had lied to Amon...not that it really matters, as his attempt at benevolence was never going to last, Goeth was far too much of a monster for such a thing to ever work out. But it's interesting that Schindler tried to curb that kill instinct in Goeth.
@@smittyDXPS3 Of all the times of watching this movie over the years it had never occurred to me that he might have been pardoning himself in the mirror. However, upon reading this comment and thinking about it further, I am inclined to agree. He is just that evil. Thanks for this.
Hi George, I'm glad you mention John Rabe. He is not very well-known in Germany but when I saw the biopic of him on RU-vid it was great getting to know he existed. In Germany of course we focus mostly on the evil and bad things happening during that time and how it started etc.
Thank you for the translations. It is hard to watch, but I have seen this film multiple times to remind myself what humanity is capable of. When your father said " You can't reason with a monster. " That was so apt for the moment.
Hello friends, I am Chilean, the history of the Second World War totally changed my way of seeing life and the world. It's something I haven't been able to overcome. I have researched all the nations involved since our educational system addresses the issue in a very superfluous way. However, I have educated myself by my own means in order to be a person who respects life and our land. I can't understand so much hate that emanates in us, I hope that one day the business and pestilence of war will become obsolete and we will understand that we are equal, with the same desires and fears I give you a brotherly hug. I wish you peace of mind and happiness in your lives.
This is lovely. It bothers me that western students learn (or did; I'm your dad's age) everything about what happened to the Jews and NOTHING about what the Chinese suffered, though it was just as horrific. German war criminals are still hunted, while most of the Japanese offenders ended up working in prestigious hospitals and universities. The two genocides were never treated equally, and I think that has everything to do with differences in appearance. Tragic and awful, what people will do to each other.
Several people have mentioned that Steven Spielberg directed this movie (and also "Empire of the Sun" about the War in China). Your father talked about how impressed he was with the direction of the film, and he also had the same thing to say about "Saving Private Ryan". Spielberg directed both films. Did you mention that to your father? I think he would have been very interested to know that it was the same director for both of those movies (And so many other amazing films).
George, I love the videos where you watch a movie with your father. It's always such a wonderful moment to see you two share. I don't know you and I have no right to say this to you. But cherish it. I just lost my father a few months ago. He was one of the most special people in my life. I'd give anything to watch one more movie with him. I'm happy you still can. Thank you for sharing another one of these memories with us.
The only movie I know of that depicted or was set in the Nanjing Massacre was the Flowers of War with Christian Bale, and it was intense and hard to watch, right up there with Schindler's List which, interestingly enough, also involved someone saving people from being killed by the Axis.
Thanks for that George. I'm writting from Poland tho and have been following your channel for a long time. Always impressed by your couriocity because I share the same attitude to the world. What is REALLY impressing thing is that you visited my country, that long distance from Canada, not mentioning China. How long have you been to Poland and when? :) Maybe next time we can dring some polish %
It may interest your father to know that a Japanese diplomat risked his position and life to rescue between 4-6000 Jews from the Nazis by providing them Visas while he was working at the Imperial Japanese Embassy in Lithuania.
Thank you George, it is very interesting to hear your Dad’s perspective on these subjects. He is very right that Japan has not acknowledged its shame in the same way that Germany has. Please continue to post these reactions with your Dad.
This is a very hard movie to watch, it doesn't butter anything up and shows just how brutal it was, but I think, even if it's just once, everyone should watch it, to realise what it is we should bever allow to happen again. And unfortunately, not on the same scale, but these race and religion fuelled hate crimes are still happening today, and it's just so sad.
Thank you to Georges father for sharing that at the start, I could see how hard it was toward the end of the intro for him to talk about it but it was a rare insight and appreciated
I really like your dad and the conversations the two of you have about these movies. He's an interesting guy. I wonder if he'd like the excellent German movie Das Boot (1981) which takes place aboard a German U-boat. Very intense with great acting.
Good idea to watch movies with your dad George, that was one of my favorite things to do with mine before he died, introduced me to all the classics. Great memories.
I'm jewish myself, I'm 45, my mother's family had to leave French Algeria in the 1960's because of the war with France. I have to say israeli government, (and I'm saying government, not Israelis nor jews, nor zionist and other BS) does an amazing job to promote and provoke anti semitism by murdering dozens of thousands of innocents and committing crimes against humanity, like bombarding and letting kids or women starving to death, thirst, with no medical care, just like nazis did in ghettos during WW2, even killing humanitarians and journalists. It must sucks to be Israeli with a litteral nazi and a butcher as a leader... yesterday's victims became the executioners.
Schindlers list was a mandatory movie to watch during history lessons when i was in school back in the olden days. It was such an important part of history.
Having just read several books on the Japanese invasion, occupation, and atrocities in China, Malaysia, Burma, and the Dutch East Indies, I found your father’s comparisons and insights of this movie to the Japanese extremely interesting and emotional! Great review!!
A movie that's not as well known in the West about the Nanjing/Nanking massacre is The City of Life & Death (2009). It is also done in the black and white style as Schindler's List, and is in many ways a very similar movie in tone and what is depicted. I adore Schindler's List, but in many ways I respect City of Life & Death just as much if not more, it's an incredibly hard film to watch, worse even then Schindler's List, but I thought it was phenomenal. Tragic and unwavering, but just as historically important as Schindler's List, companion films even in subject. Watching you and your father's reaction to this film, and hearing your family's history, thought it may be a painful subject, I think you may find City of Life & Death very much worth a viewing, if you haven't seen it already. There are also no reactions to it on RU-vid. Zero. The Human Condition trilogy (1951-61) is also a must see. Some of the best films I've ever seen. Other films that come to mind about Nanking and China's struggle during the Second Sino-Japanese war and WW2 that are all well worth a watch are The Flowers of War (2011), Don't Cry Nanking (1995), Back to 1942 (2012), John Rabe (2009), The Last Emperor (1987), Empire of the Sun (1987), The Children of Huang Shi (2008), and the mentioned Human Condition trilogy.
Sadly, even while filming, there was still people mocking the production with antisemitic slurs (at one point, Ralph Fiennes was filming one of his scenes in full Nazi uniforms and a woman cried out from an apartment window, "If only you were still protecting us"). 50 years later (and now even, 80 years later), some will still hold so STRONGLY with old prejudices and so much Hatred. A Sadness that seemingly will never end. R .I.P. for those of every descent that perished during this horrible period (more than 6 Million were Jewish, but it was also over 11 Million dead solely from the Holocaust).
I don't know if it was intentional or not, but you have posted this video at a very apt time. Right now on the news, I've been hearing all about both the Israeli and Palestinian civilians who are being harmed and destroyed due to the Gaza Strip conflict. Of course, you and your dad touched on that topic while watching "Fury" in a previous video, but in this case we have Jewish people being vilified for simply being Jewish. At the same time, the Israeli military is attempting to eliminate Hamas leaders who are hiding amongst innocent refugees, so it's awfully difficult to pick a side today. Not like what's portrayed in this film, where Germany is clearly the oppressor and the side that's in the wrong. I've been a fan of Spielberg all my life, and this film is probably his greatest achievement. One film of his that you may want to see (if you haven't already) is "Munich" which is specifically about Israel vs Palestine, but on a smaller scale than a straight-up war movie. That film would be an especially apt selection right now. It looks like this is the third of the videos you've made with your dad that have been posted. How many more did you make with him during his visit?
No this was not intentionally timed. We filmed this back in September and it took multiple weeks to translate the entire recording, then to edit and finally have it ready now.
Wow. Thankyou & your dad for sharing such a personal story. I didn’t learn about the Nanking massacre in school but I will definitely be researching it. The more we learn of history the better chance we have to not repeat it.
Having your father here is a great way for people who know nothing of the world to experience someone from a country that many in the US consider an adversary to realize we are all human beings. Not governments or politics. President Kennady said; We all inhabit this same planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal”. This should be a message to everyone, every country that is turning to the right and becoming nationalistic. There is another way. There MUST be another way, before we drown in blood again. P.S. I spent 3 years in West Berlin before the wall came down.
We learned about WWII in school and focused mostly on the war in Europe (I am Dutch, so it made sense). I later studied the war in Asia myself and I thought that I had seen the worst. Reading about Nanking and the Japanese experiment units made me physically sick, I could barely finish the article I was reading back then. I think the world should know more about the Japanese war crimes, since they have not even admitted the horrors they commited.
Just remember that Hamas just did this and worse to over 1400 Jewish men, women and kids - only a few generations from the victims of the Holocaust. They did things even the Nazis did not - raped babies in front of their parents, burned them alive, decapitated them. Now we're seeing pro-Hamas/Palestine rallies and attacks on Jews in our own countries, people protesting the war in Gaza. The attitudes in this film are still everywhere. There are even so many people who deny the Holocaust happened, deny the Hamas attack even though it was livestreamed...Like the Japanese deny Nanking. So we should ask ourselves, what are we doing TODAY to speak out against evil? Or will we be doomed to repeat history forever? I really appreciated this video and the perspective of both reactors. It was very powerful and insightful.
My in-laws are from the Philippines. My father in-law told me the most horrific stories of what the Japanese did to his family. His own father was taken by the Japanese because he was a train station master and knew the railroad lines. He and his mother fled to the jungle for a month and hid. When they came back to the village they found all the family and people who didn't flee hung up in the church skinned. General MacArthur was his hero. Spoke highly of the United States soldiers who rescued him and his mother. It was a horrific war both in Europe and Asia. I was born not long after the war and remember learning about what happened in China. The Japanese were brutal. Pray we never have to see it happen again.
