Of 200,000, twenty-two survive. Those must be some stories.
Yep. And difficult to share. Surviving systematic abuse by the Japanese army, just to have society look down on you? These women deserve better.
So the movie does what it can. Our Chinese grannies share their pain—some of them, for the first time. But even when reliving becomes too difficult, we still sit with them. See them.
About half of the movie steps out of the room. Nothing-moments. As much as these give grannies a respectful distance, they give us time to download what we’ve just learned. Watching a snowfall, we can think about how the voice of pain is sometimes muffled. Or, we can focus on the flakes’ delicate dance. Up to us.
Whether by interviews or in-betweens, this movie is as tasteful and beautiful as a movie can be. There is no action, no journey. Just life, raw and real.