The film is excellent in making its point. The documentary arrangement is spotless, and the color gimmick is tolerable. In fact, for such a piece of propaganda, it is a good documentary. This nonetheless does not take away the fact that for a historian, or anyone interested in world history untainted by American revisionism, the film is of a heavy bias. Sadly, not a Japanese bias but rather a North American bias. There is no background to the traditional conflicts between China and Japan, no mention of the detrimental effects of Western (UK and USA)military pressures to open their markets or most importantly the pressure of American imperialism (Hawaii, Philipines, misc naval bases) upon Japan, in fact the film is so biased that the Japanese view of the Rape of Nanking is described thus: "to them it is not an invasion, but a liberation". Now, even if it was brutal, and accepting it was an invasion, why isn't there mention of the presence of Britain in China, the country it was being "liberated" from. There is even one ridiculous mention of "the great depression which originated after the market crash in NY 1929", it makes you wonder what kind of history degree is needed to make a documentary. The film even manages to make it seem like American and British control of CHina was a positive thing but Japanese control a bad thing. I mean, if i knew just a tad less of the actual history, i would have knelt right then and there and said the pledge of allegiance. Once again, well done, but, not truthful, real or accurate. Veredict: PROPAGANDA

I saw this film at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival.The film was almost three hours long, but compelling all the way through. This documentary features the confessions of 14 Japanese soldiers, detailing their atrocities against the Chinese in the war that Japan waged for most of the thirties and forties. At times hard to listen to, it was nonetheless an exercise in bravery for these men to speak out when the overwhelming majority of soldiers did not. A deeply difficult film to get made and shown in Japan. (8/10)

This documentary, still seen by few, will hopefully be more widely distributed as years go by. The usual war dynamics are here; men brutalized by a brutal military machine lose their humanity.Listening to these old men tell the stories; however, puts it in an powerful context. Recommended, nine out of ten.

A compelling, moving and frightening documentary, consisting of interviews with elderly Japanese veterans about their experiences in China (and Manchuria) during the war. Included in this group are former members of the infamous unit 731, known for its biological warfare tested on the Japanese.The movie clearly spells out the atrocities committed by the Japanese upon Chinese civilians, and their recollections of their feelings and motivations at the time. While such films that deal with Nazi atrocities are not uncommon, there are few other Japanese-produced documentaries of this type. The only off-putting note is when the soldiers describe their capture by the Chinese at the end of the war, and how well they were treated during their captivity -- often with more than one soldier using the exact words to describe it, and accompanied by propaganda-looking footage from the time. But this can hardly detract from the power of the testimony of these soldiers and their descriptions of the atrocities they committed.