The Reel Bits

Tag: Twenty-Two

  • Review: Twenty Two

    Review: Twenty Two

    History sometimes has a way of getting muddled in the pursuit of political and personal aims. Chinese director Guo Ke’s TWENTY TWO (二十二) shreds away agendas and simply examines the surviving people at the heart of a war crime.

    Of the 200,000 Chinese women that the film estimates were forced into sex slavery during the Japanese occupation of World War II, only 22 elderly women were still alive at the time of filming. Expanding on Guo’s directorial debut short Thirty Two, released in 2012, it follows the daily lives of the survivors.

    Twenty-Two

    Guo’s subject matter is a difficult one, yet his presentation is simplicity itself. Taking an observational approach rather than an intrusive one, his lens is just as likely to fall on rain as it hits an awning or sun over a field as it is on the women themselves. Some of these women are now in nursing homes or other facilities, and Guo is concerned with them being forgotten there.  

    Which makes the reason for this documentary all the more powerful when Guo reminds us of it. Fragments of memories are expressed to camera, recounting tales of brutality and torture. Several women tell Guo of their rape and abuse before breaking the conversation to tell him they no longer “feel comfortable talking about it.” 

    For all of the arm’s length approach, the documentary never wants us to forget the atrocities. As one interviewee observes, it is insufficient to call them ‘comfort women’ or any other euphemism. These are victims who were forced into sexual slavery during World War II. The continued survival of these women is a reminder of their state-sanction assault, and mere observation of their later lives is enough to make a firm point to their aggressors.

    TWENTY TWO was originally presented at the Busan International Film Festival back in 2015, but this global release (recut by The Assassin editor Liao Ching-Song) fulfils an intent to spread the story of these women across the world. “I did not want these women lost to history,” said Guo at the time. Thanks to this powerful document, hopefully they never will be. 

    [stextbox id=”grey” bgcolor=”F2F2F2″ mleft=”5″ mright=”5″ image=”null”]2017 | China | DIR: Guo Ke | WRITERS: Guo Ke | RUNNING TIME: 99 minutes | DISTRIBUTOR: China Lion (AUS) | RELEASE DATE: 7 September 2017 (AUS)[/stextbox]

  • China Lion releases World War II sex slave documentary ‘Twenty-Two’ in Australia

    China Lion releases World War II sex slave documentary ‘Twenty-Two’ in Australia

    China Lion Film Entertainment announced today the release of the record-breaking Chinese documentary TWENTY-TWO, set to open in selected Australian and New Zealand cinemas on 7 September 2017. Directed by Guo Ke, the film is his second documentary on “comfort women”.  It was inspired by his directorial debut short “Thirty Two”, released in 2012.

    It is estimated that at least 200,000 Chinese women were forced into sex slavery by the Japanese invaders during World War II. TWENTY-TWO was named after the number of “comfort women” still alive at the time of its filming in 2014. Through a restrained and careful approach, TWENTY-TWO offers a look at the current situation and lives of these 22 elderly women.

    The film follows the subjects as they go about their daily lives, listening to them talk about their experiences and their own perspectives on life, including both suffering and happiness. Skillfully avoiding becoming intrusive, Guo Ke attempts to trace, assemble and preserve fragments of histories both factual and highly personal.

    Just as fascinating is the story behind the making of the film. The movie’s release comes on the heels of the death of Huang Youliang, one of the women who unsuccessfully sued the Japanese government in July of 2001 for their traumatic suffering. She died at the age of 90 in her home in the southern province of Hainan on August 13, a day before the film’s release in China. 

    More than one million yuan was raised from the public to go towards publication fees for the film. The director typed the names of all 32,099 people who made donations and shows them all during the film’s credits. Renowned director Feng Xiaogang (the upcoming Youth) recently took to Weibo to promote the film, receiving 141,000 likes and 68,000 retweets in less than 20 hours.  

    It is estimated that the film might become most profitable Chinese movie of all time, according to China media Mtime.