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SCMP Reporter

Beijing

It's 9pm outside a cinema in downtown Beijing's Xidan district and 50 people without tickets  are begging the manager to be allowed in  to watch a movie re-enactment of the trial of Japanese war criminals. 'Can you please let us in to watch it standing up? We'll pay full price for the ticket and promise not to make any noise,' asks one. 'Would you please arrange an additional screening for us? We can wait, no matter how late it is,' shouts another.

It's rare for a so-called mainstream-ideology work -  an officially endorsed vehicle that champions the government line - to  attract such interest among the general population, especially the younger generation.

But The Tokyo Trial is different, given the strained relationship between China and Japan in recent years. And against a backdrop of demonstrations against  former Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to the Yasukuni shrine it was always going to be a popular choice.

Branded by its producers as a 'must-see film for every Chinese', it recounts the court appearance of 28 Japanese war criminals at  the end of the second world war. Director Gao Qunshu includes  two story lines:  how Chinese judge Mei Ru'ao swayed opinion on the international panel of 11 judges to secure death penalties for  Japan's wartime leaders Hideki Tojo, Kenji Doihara and Koki Hirota; and  how one  Japanese family suffered because of the war.

The first story is given more importance - marked  by Mei's  lobbying and his closing speech about why the  war criminals should be hanged.  The impact  of the second is diminished by contrast with the sufferings of  the Chinese. Still, the state-run media lauds the film for its plausible balance.  'The movie evokes patriotism and a pursuit of peace, rather than stirring hatred between China and Japan,' Xinhua quoted Shanghai movie critic Mao Shi'an as saying.

However, the reactions of the mostly young cinema-goers suggest that  the film does nothing to calm hatred of  the Japanese.

Geng Haitao, a 27-year- old interior designer from the northeastern city of Changchun, one of the first  occupied by the Japanese  during the war, says  his grandparents were  victims  of bacterial  experiments by the infamous Unit 731.  He  says he  has  watched the film  three times. 'Those notorious war criminals  committed many crimes in China,' Geng says. 'We've already been lenient enough by asking them to repay the blood debt with only six deaths.'

He says he's disappointed  that the film made only passing mention of   the activities of Unit 731.  'Of course, there's some deal between the western powers and Japan,' he says. 'That's why it's so difficult for us to punish these war criminals severely. Might is justice. We have to strengthen ourselves.'

Unlike Geng, most young Chinese don't have  painful memories of losing family members to the Japanese. He says their dislike for the Japanese has come from news, textbooks and films. The atrocities committed and  lack of remorse shown by the Japanese criminals  in The Tokyo Trial  reinforces those views. 'Japanese should see the film foremost,' says 24-year-old office clerk He Lili, echoing Beijing's condemnation of Koizumi's controversial visits. 'See  what ruthless murderers are worshipped at the Yasukuni shrine. And they haven't yet apologised for what they have done in the past.'

The film attracted  a star-studded cast, including Hong Kong's  Damian Lau Chung-yan  (as Mei) and Kenneth Tsang Kong,  Taiwanese heart-throb Ken Zhu Xiaotian and Kelly Lin Hsi-lei.  It  also features  some minor Japanese actors, as well as American and Canadians,  with  much of the dialogue during the trial in English and Japanese.

Lau and Tsang's performances  have been widely applauded,   but Zhu and Lin - who play a Chinese and a Japanese reporter, respectively - are too sentimental for  such a heavy subject. 'It's a historical picture,' says Yu Minren, a middle-aged civil servant. 'What's the point of putting some teen idols in it? Their style just doesn't match  the film. Their love story isn't necessary, either.'

Some mainland intellectuals  have pointed out what they see as  cultural bias in the film. Among  its errors, for example, is the  suggestion that Indian judge Radhabinod Pal  defends the Japanese because of his Buddhist beliefs.  In reality, Pal was a respected legal expert whose objections were rooted in his opposition  to the  victor's court and his argument that the Allies should  have been judged equally if Japanese politicians were to  be put on trial.

'The misrepresentation of  Pal is like raising your value by depreciating those of your rivals,' says Huang Zhangjing, a senior writer with Phoenix Weekly.  'It does no good in helping  the Chinese understand the complexity of the trial.'

But director Gao says he's  glad  that the film has aroused heated discussions about Sino-Japanese relations, although he has reservations about some of the  reactions. 'It's a patriotic  film,  rather than a nationalistic one,' he says. 'I strongly oppose  nationalistic feelings between both countries.

'The topic is so complicated that  you can't expect to know  all about it from a single film,' Gao says. 'My responsibility is to arouse people's interest.  History should never be forgotten.'



Mainland youngsters just can't get enough of wartime justice