Mainland director Lu Chuan's City of Life and Death, a dramatisation of the Nanking Massacre, has aroused much controversy, not least because of its sympathetic portrayal of its lead character, Kadokawa.
An educated Japanese soldier, Kadokawa struggles to cope with the rape and slaughter of Chinese civilians by his comrades during the occupation of Nanjing in 1937.
Actor Hideo Nakaizumi, 33, who played Kadokawa, said making the film was at times distressing and had left him mentally exhausted, but he hoped audiences would see beyond the controversy to the film's anti-war message.
He said the audience should not focus solely on his character.
'This film is not aimed at stirring up hatred between Japanese and Chinese people. It is about the relationship between war and humanity,' he said. 'The film wants us all to rethink how destructive a war can be and how stupid it would be to ever repeat what we did.'
Nakaizumi became aware of Lu when he saw another film by the director, Kekexili (2004), about a group of volunteers protecting antelopes against poachers in Tibet. The film made an impression on the actor, who later met Lu during casting for City of Life and Death in December, 2006.