CITY OF WAR: THE STORY OF JOHN RABE aka JOHN RABE

Year: 2009
UK: Metrodome Distribution
Cast: Ulrich Tukur, Daniel Bruhl, Anne Consigny, Dagmar Manzel, Jingchu Zhangm, Steve Buscemi, Dagmar Manzel, Jingchu Zhang, Teruyuki Kagawa, Mathias Herrmann, Tetta Sugimoto, Akira Emoto, Arata, Shaun Lawton, Christian Rodska, Gottfried John
Director: Florian Gallenberger
Countries: Germany / France / China
Language: German (English subtitles)
UK: 129 mins
UK DVD: 120 mins
UK Certificate: 15 contains strong bloody war violence and injury detail
UK Release Date: 2 April 2010 (Limited Release)
UK DVD Release Date: 3 May 2010
(in German)
UK Distributor

Synopsis

Inspired by the astonishing diaries of John Rabe, a German businessman caught in the Japanese offensive on China as World War II breaks out.

As the globe stands on the brink of World War II, Shanghai has fallen and deadly Japanese bombers target the infamous city of Nanking. As panic breaks out and savage bombing raids devastate the city, veteran entrepreneur John Rabe (Ulrich Tukur), a German living the high life in the social whirl of Nanking, must make a agonising choice: to flee or give sanctuary to the terrified population within the gates of his factory.

When the Imperial Japanese Army discovers rich "Nazi" Rabe's selfless operation, they see it an act of high treason. As a wave of brutality is unleashed on Nanking, Rabe and his comrades find themselves in a race against time to fight for a safety zone to protect the hundreds of thousands of innocent victims of this ultimate act of war. But as the bombings cease, a perilous siege begins...