Representatives of Japan’s #MeToo movement speak out

There’s a scene in Shiori Ito’s searing documentary black box diaryIn the film, the director (who is also the film’s protagonist) tells the story of an attempt to bring criminal charges against her rapist to a group of reporters. Like many survivors of sexual violence who are forced to participate in this public ritual of re-litigation, she exemplifies society’s expectations of brave women. Her face is expressionless and she wears the chastity uniform of the wronged: dainty earrings (Ito chose pearls), a conservatively tailored blouse (here with a black tie), almost no makeup (a light blush and a Pen eyeliner).

Ito’s voice remained calm as she recounted the police’s initial refusal to accept the victim’s report and their various excuses: Sex crimes were difficult to investigate, they said; her rapist Noriyuki Yamaguchi, the former chief of Tokyo Broadcasting Corporation’s Washington bureau, Also a friend of the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was too powerful to censor.

After a few months, the authorities dropped Ito’s case, and the young woman, a journalist herself, decided to go public. She held the above-mentioned press conference in May 2017 and published her memoir five months later.

Ito’s behavior is unusual in Japan, where less than 10% of rape victims report the crime.

black box diary, The film, released in the United States on October 25, documents Ito’s efforts to seek legal redress. Combining diary-style iPhone footage, news reports, hotel security footage from the night of Ito’s rape, and various audio recordings, the film is a visceral testimony of survival and search.

The devastating and familiar nature of Ito’s debut novel finds companionship in a work that recognizes the power of survivor testimony.

An obvious question that comes to mind is she saida traditional dramatization by Maria Schrader new york times Journalists Megan Twohey and Jodi Kanter investigate Harvey Weinstein. Schrader deploys the testimony in a compelling way, using actual recordings of Ambra Gutierrez’s encounter with Weinstein to alter the film’s perspective, taking the viewer from the perspective of the fictional narrative. Awakening in the comforting calm of man.

The other is Chanel Miller’s 2019 memoir know my name, Miller was attacked by Stanford University athlete Brock Turner in 2015, in which she reclaimed her identity under the pseudonym Emily Doe. Like Ito, Miller’s narrative finds a bracing energy in self-revelation.

The latest is a thought-provoking drama from director Lee Sunday Evans and actress Elizabeth Marvel. Ford/Hill Project at the Public Theater in New York. The show recently concluded its run with an interlude of hearings for Anita Hill and Christine Blasey Ford. The committee testified that then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas sexually harassed her. , the same committee also met.

The material power of the accused – conferred by a society more likely to side with the perpetrators than with the survivors of the assault – links these works across different countries and years. Together, these women’s stories form an impressive chorus about the difficulties survivors face when trying to tell the truth.

Most people in Ito’s life begged her not to go public. Conversations with her family and an aborted criminal case investigator, some of which are included in black box diaryIt reveals the deep-seated fears that foster a culture of silence in Japan. These people feared the loss of their jobs, the damage to their reputations, and the threat of violence that could come from Ito exposing himself to an unforgiving public.

Still, the journalist, driven by the values ​​that drew her to the profession, felt compelled to try. Ito treats her cases with the same rigor she treats journalism. This approach makes the document easily accessible to those unfamiliar with contemporary Japanese society while providing black box diary Ironically, this is the progression of the program.

Many scenes show Ito recording phone calls, taking copious notes, and sitting in rooms surrounded by highlighted folders of transcripts and evidence. As director, she uses conversations with editors, lawyers, and friends to explain why criminal cases were dropped, civil suits were pursued, and the politics within Japanese society that complicated every step of her journey.

Anecdotes gleaned from secret meetings with anonymous investigators underscore Yamaguchi’s power. In a particularly veiled story, investigators told Ito that despite issuing an arrest warrant for the high-profile journalist, police chief Itaru Nakamura, who considered Yamaguchi a friend, decided not to do so.

The details of Ito’s case, especially for viewers familiar with survivor accounts, echo stories that have become more common since the height of the #MeToo movement. The callousness of investigators, the cowardly police interrogation methods (insisting that the truth hinges on minute details, trying to dilute survivors’ memories) and the vitriol of a misogynistic public are all on display in the film. black box diary.

The uniqueness of Ito’s films lies in the diary-style iPhone videos, which are confrontational modes in which the director is the subject. Amid these clear and heartfelt confessions, Ito the reporter disappears and Ito the person comes into better view.

They reveal survivors’ chronic isolation and provide space for private demons to come to the fore when no pretense and steady tones are needed to mask pain. They reinvented the concept of testimony, transforming it from a public act into an urgent and healing private act.