Chinese and Japanese Films on the Second World War

This book examines representations of the Second World War in postwar Chinese and Japanese cinema. Drawing on a wide range of films and scholarly disciplines, it demonstrates the potential of war movies for understanding contemporary China and Japan. It shows how the war is remembered in both countries, including the demonisation of Japanese soldiers in postwar socialist-era Chinese films, and the pervasive sense of victimhood in Japanese memories of the war. However, it also shows how some Chinese directors have experimented with alternatives interpretations of the war, and how the production of Japanese films critical of the war has continued despite the "resurgence of nationalism".