Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

Editor's Note: 

Set against the backdrop of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, the Chinese film Dead to Rights is gaining strong momentum both at home and abroad. The film conveys Chinese filmmakers' profound reflections on history, humanity and justice - reflections that transcend national borders and resonate with audiences worldwide, drawing them into theaters for a shared experience of remembrance. How is this story perceived through foreign eyes? To find out, we invite three foreign viewers to share their thoughts and feelings after watching the film.

Kim Jeong-won, vlogger from South Korea

I watched the film Dead to Rights last month. In my high school East Asian history and world history classes, I learned that the Japanese military invaded not only Korea but also China, and that, particularly in Nanjing, a brutal massacre took place. However, at the time, I didn't know the detailed circumstances or the full reality of the incident - my understanding was limited to fragmentary information.

Through this film, however, I came face-to-face with the horrific reality of the Nanjing Massacre, and I felt a feeling of shock and anger that is hard to put into words. The Japanese military slaughtered civilians indiscriminately - from young children to the elderly, no one was spared from their violence. The scenes showing Japanese soldiers brutally killing even infants who could not walk filled me with an uncontrollable anger throughout the entire viewing. What I found even more incomprehensible was the fact that, despite committing such atrocities, the Japanese military is extremely reluctant to let foreign journalists know about them. To me, this suggests that deep down, they were aware of the shamefulness and injustice of their actions.

In South Korea, as in China, history lessons in elementary, middle and high schools repeatedly teach us about Japan's invasion and the atrocities it committed against our people. Because this history is taught every year for at least six years throughout the school curriculum, most Koreans have developed a fairly detailed understanding of the Japanese colonial rule. Even though many years have passed since the end of that era, Koreans still feel deep anger toward the acts committed by the Japanese military. I think that is why I was able to watch this film with such immersion, empathy and shared outrage. 

Although the Japanese government tried to cover up the incident, attempting to erase it from the history books and public memory, thanks to the courageous efforts of the Chinese people at the time, the truth gradually came to light. As a citizen of a country that also suffered from Japanese invasion, I feel deep gratitude to China for its commitment to preserving the evidence of the Japanese military's atrocities and sharing it with the world. And now, in 2025, I find it deeply meaningful that this kind of film is being shown again, offering another chance to ensure that the crimes of Japanese imperialism are never forgotten.

Tom Fenton, actor from the UK

Before watching Dead to Rights, I knew little about the events it depicts beyond the broad, horrific facts of the Nanjing Massacre. Growing up in the UK, this part of history simply wasn't covered in our school textbooks. As someone who has acted in several Chinese films set during World War II, I was aware of how deeply this chapter resonates in China, but the film brought it home in a way that was both intimate and deeply unsettling.

This movie starts as a grand-scale war epic, but it develops into a tense, almost claustrophobic drama centered on the fragile space between survival and morality. One of the film's most affecting moments comes when the local Chinese photo developers are tasked with processing images of atrocities, only to recognize familiar faces among the victims. These are not abstract horrors from a distant front line; they are neighbors and friends, now frozen in stark, black-and-white evidence. That recognition lands like a punch in the gut, and it's the kind of moment that lingers long after the credits roll.

As a foreign actor who has worked on Chinese productions set during the war, I found the film's portrayal of occupation striking in its balance between individual survival stories and the larger historical tragedy. It avoids flattening characters into simple heroes and villains; even those who collaborate are shown as trapped in their own impossible calculations. That's part of what makes it so compelling for an international audience - its themes of moral compromise, resilience and truth-telling transcend the specific historical context.

For all its historical weight, Dead to Rights ultimately feels like a story about the human instinct to bear witness. There's a line in the film that struck me deeply: "If they didn't develop the photos, they would end up like the people in them." That chilling awareness drives the characters to risk everything to preserve the truth. In a world where historical memory can be fragile, and sometimes contested, that act of witness feels as urgent now as it was back then.

Dead to Rights is a testament to the power of art - whether photography or cinema - to preserve the truth when it would be easier to keep silent. As someone working as an actor in China, I hope more of the world can come to know this part of history. 

David Couderc, French musician

The images of this film allowed me to better understand the history of China during World War II. I came out of this film with a certain emotion because this page of the story tells us about the worst atrocities committed by Japan toward the Chinese people. I only knew about the acts of barbarism of Nazi Germany but I saw the same monstrosity of Japanese soldiers in the mass killings in Nanjing. 

Scenes from the film still remain in my head, especially that of the baby who is savagely slaughtered. Every time I think about it, I still can't understand how a human can lose both his mind and his heart to become a machine to kill without any rules, pity or compassion... Another memorable scene is that of the Japanese wearing the symbol of the Nazi cross on their clothes, which once again demonstrates their affiliation with Hitler and Germany during 1937-45.

This important fragment of World War II, which I didn't know because it was little described in the school program in my country, France, shows us all the incredible violence toward Chinese civilians, committed just for the pleasure of making people suffer... It is important for the young Chinese or Western generations not to forget all the human sacrifices that allowed us to live today. 

Nowadays, China has become very strong and has been able to evolve in all areas, in particular cinema, and this allows the Chinese people to be able to export their culture beyond their borders and have an important page in history recognized. As a French person living in China for eight years with my Chinese wife and my two French-Chinese children, I consider that this story is also mine. I plan to visit Nanjing one day so that I can learn more.