Interviews with survivors, old newsreel footage and still photos are woven among individual stories told in "Nanking," which graphically relates the horrors visited by the Japanese army on the Chinese city of Nanking in 1937. (Photo provided by Purple Mountain Productions)

Nanking tells the story of the Japanese invasion of Nanking, China in the early days of World War II and focuses on the efforts of a small group of unarmed Westerners who established a Safety Zone where over 200,000 Chinese found refuge. (Photo courtesy HBO Documentary Films) (ThinkFilms for The Star)

War brings out the best and worst in people, and the documentary "Nanking" perfectly illustrates that.

The film chronicles the 1937 occupation of the former Chinese capital city by Japanese troops allied with Nazi Germany.

"Nanking" has a unique, but almost grade-school, simplicity in its execution: A group of actors, including Woody Harrelson, Mariel Hemingway and Jurgen Prochnow, takes on the personas of real-life foreigners (mostly Americans who lived in the city, and a German).

Interspersed among their stories are interviews with survivors, old newsreel footage and still photos that depict the atrocities that befell the city's residents.

The foreigners negotiated with the Japanese government and set up a "safe zone," where presumably no fighting would take place, theoretically keeping innocent townspeople out of the line of fire.

The Japanese troops are portrayed as bloodthirsty and cruel, raping, pillaging and murdering at will, with the outsiders all but helpless to watch. The Japanese don't touch the foreigners, but brutalize the Chinese people.

The story of the survivors is harrowing and heartbreaking, and it's difficult to watch and hear them tell of the indescribably horrific acts perpetrated against them and their families.

Nothing is sugar-coated. We see the decapitations, the burned remains and the brutalized men, women and children.

One of the Americans risked his life to smuggle footage of what was going on into the United States, in hopes of bringing attention to the issue. He succeeded in getting the footage to the States, but didn't get any real action from the government.

Ironically, it's the well-intentioned Hollywood actors who get in the way in "Nanking." Their involvement, especially early on, is distracting and a little self-important.

Later on, the actors seem to settle into their roles and blend in a bit more, yet it's difficult to believe them, especially in comparison to the emotions and reactions of the people who were really there.

The film paints those people as heroes who risked their lives to help the Chinese and stand up to the Japanese invaders. They're almost portrayed as Oskar Schindler figures, which raises the question of why the episode hasn't received big-screen treatment until now.

Their message, though, is clear: Even as atrocities unfold in faraway countries, we can all do something to help, even if our government doesn't.

In the end, "Nanking" is not only an indictment of the cruelties of war, but of the apathy of people in a position to help, an important history lesson, and a film you owe it to yourself to see.

Movie Details

Rated: R for disturbing images and descriptions of wartime atrocities, including rape.

Running time: 88 minutes

Starring: Hugo Armstrong, Rosalind Chao, Woody Harrelson.

Directors: Bill Guttentag, Dan Sturman