`Comfort Woman’ Film Touches Japan

Ahn Hae-ryong’s ``My Heart Is Not Broken Yet’’ documents Song Sin-do, center, the only World War II sex slave to ``come out’’ in Japan, and her Japanese supporters’ decade-long efforts to sue the Japanese government. /Courtesy of Indiestory

If Erin Brockovich’s cleavage helped her defense, then Grandma Song Sin-do’s unbreakable heart keeps her fighting her case. Currently playing in theaters is Ahn Hae-ryong’s ``My Heart Is Not Broken Yet,’’ which documents this ``unconventional’’ World War II victim who has become something of a star in Japan while filing a lawsuit against the Japanese government.

Only recently have surviving ``comfort women,’’ who were forced into sexual slavery in Japanese military brothels during war, dared to speak of their past. In 1991, Kim Hak-soon was the first to give a public testimony in Korea and two years later, Song became the first in Japan.

The local media often portrays a group of fragile, teary-eyed grandmothers and supporters demonstrating vehemently in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul _ but in Song’s instance, it was a group of Japanese civilians who persuaded her to file a case against the Japanese government and demand a formal apology. And unlike other war victim, this ``hard as nails’’ 77-year-old exhibits ``rage and humor unbefitting a sufferer,’’ according to an Asahi Shimbun reporter in the film.

Inspired by Song, some 670 Japanese individuals funded the documentary. Song’s sharp tongue makes ``My Heart’’ humorous as much as it is moving, and moreover, inspirational to see how an individual can transcend personal struggles. Rather than lamenting over seven years of sexual slavery she condemns the inclusive horrors of war itself, arguing that Japanese soldiers and sex slaves were all victims. The film moves away from the anti-Japan sentiment that is usually associated with the issue here, and she even welcomes veteran soldiers as valuable witnesses for her case.

Moreover, the film documents her personal transformation. In spite of her charisma and wit, the past had made her deeply untrusting of people and the difficulties of living as a foreigner in Japan had deprived her of the sense of belonging. Through her journey, she learns to open her heart to strangers and reconnect with her homeland.

The movie is currently showing in various venues in Japan since it was first released in August 2007. Song has been touring the nation to tell her story, particularly to high school students. ``It is necessary that many Japanese people be informed of (comfort women) and the movie must be seen in order to spread the knowledge,’’ a teenage girl was quoted as saying after watching the movie, according to the film’s domestic distributor.

Born in 1922 in South Chungcheong Province, Song was coerced into sexual slavery at military brothels in China at the tender age of 16. Over seven nightmarish years, she was impregnated numerous times, and had to give away two of her surviving babies to local families. All that remain with her are a tattoo of her slave name ``Ganeko,’’ a damaged left ear and several deep scars from beatings. >>More

Actress Moon So-ri provides the narration. Also featured is music by Korean-Japanese musician Pak Poe, who is known as the Bob Dylan of Japan. A portion of the profit from ticket sales will be used to fund the establishment of the War and Women’s Human Rights Museum in Korea (http://www.whrmuseum.com/).

Read about ``Chinese Pink," another unconventional account on WWII sex slavery.

`Comfort Women' as Unfading Flowers

Raped, shamed and silenced, hundreds of thousands of women from Korea and other countries were forced to serve in Japanese military brothels during World War II. Who can be justly blamed for the woes of these so-called ``comfort women''?

While the usual answer is Japanese colonial authorities, a novel argues that in fact it is the cowardly men of the male chauvinistic Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910) who were unable to protect their own women from imperial Japan (1910-45), and the Korean government, which neglected the victims for over 60 years, that should be chastised before others.

Wu Bong-gyu, whose novel ``Nunggot (Snow on the Branches)'' was selected by The Korea Times' sister paper Hankook Ilbo as the representing piece for Korea's 50th Liberation Day, has brought ``Chinese Pink: The Spirit of a Downtrodden Joseon Woman'' for the country's 63rd year of independence.

The book pays homage to the victims and their unimaginable suffering and courageous survival. They are likened to ``paeraengiggot''(Chinese Pink or Dianthus chinensis), a light purple flower shaped like the upside down paeraengi hats worn by lowly Joseon commoners. While trampled and exploited, the women persevered and keep their heads up like wild flowers that don't wilt.

But ``Chinese Pink'' goes beyond the scope of conventional works dealing with this particular subject, and scrupulously criticizes Korea's own disregard for the victims since 1945. The novel begins by pointing out that using the euphemism ``comfort women'' endorses colonial Japan's efforts to conceal the horrid nature of the institution.

The victims themselves understandably prefer the expression over the more precise ― and explicit ― term ``sex slave''. Yet the women's shame and that of the Korean bystanders who employ it to ease their own guilt, the author seems to argue, are two different things. Korean readers will find themselves feeling far less comfortable than perhaps Japanese ones.

The novel reads more like an allegorical fable or song than a graphic historical drama, and rings with ``Arirang,'' the quintessential Korean folk melody evoking ``han,'' or pervasive sadness ― bidding farewell to a loved one, and making the arduous journey across mountains and the road of life.

Images of cascading mountaintops and the smallness of man in the bosom of Mother Nature suffuses, yet the novel by no means beautifies the tumultuous period. In the center of it all stands a female protagonist, Ok-a, who, more saint than human, understands the secrets of the universe and maps out her own destiny.

Adopted by Hoe-san, a Buddhist monk, Ok-a grows up enjoying an independence, education and respect most Joseon women were deprived of. Ok-a's muse is none other than Nan Sul-hun (1563-89), an esteemed Joseon poet known for dying at the young age of 27 after an unhappy marriage to an intellectually inferior man. She, like Ok-a, perished, her towering talent unable to blossom because of her gender.

When Japanese officials begin ``recruiting'' youths for labor in factories, mines, etc., Ok-a, unable to stand her romantic feelings for Hoe-san, voluntarily leaves to work in a factory in Japan. There, she refuses to be saved by I-gu, a man desperately in love with her, and ends up getting sent to a military brothel as punishment for teaching other Korean women ``hangeul'' (Korean alphabet).

At the brothel, Ok-a's beauty strikes the fancy of high-ranking generals. While she could have avoided serving up to 100 men a day by accepting their advances, Ok-a refuses. What drives her is not the conventional force of Korean nationalism, but her own rules of transcending boundaries set by nations and people. She derides the Joseon men, who, preoccupied with continuing their own skewed Confucian legacy, had allowed their country to collapse and their women to be exploited. She even goes as far to admire the fierce loyalty of Japanese soldiers for their homeland.

Moreover, the book paints Korean modern history in a few lines about a remote Korean village: ``1940: A man clubbed to death a female tiger caught in a trap. 1945: Four women were sent to Manchuria by Japanese troops. 1950: Three North Korean soldiers were shot to death while eating. The village housed just three homes.'' Korea surrendered powerlessly to Japanese imperialism like a trapped tiger and had to helplessly watch its people be torn away from home.
``Chinese Pink'' continues on to the rise of ``Great Leader'' Kim Jong-il, another name for Joseon's male chauvinism, and Syngman Rhee, not as South Korea's first president, but as a nameless Hawaiian immigrant capitalizing upon desperation.

Demonstrators, including former "comfort
women'' or World War II sex slaves, take part in the 827th regular rally
demanding justice in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul, Aug. 20. / Korea
Times File

Following Japan's defeat in 1945, the surviving sex slaves were abandoned and many, uninformed of forthcoming attacks by UN forces, died. Those who survived were often unable to find their way home or committed suicide. Those who did make it through the years have only recently dared to speak of the past.

Civil organizations on behalf of the women demand that the Japanese government acknowledge the sexual slavery and examine the truth; apologize in the form of a national assembly resolution; include facts in school history manuals; construct an archive center and a monument to console the spirit of the dead; and punish those responsible for the slavery.

Unbending the women may be, but flowers are bound to perish with time. Until just action is taken, habitual sadness will linger, clawing at an already downtrodden soul.

Seoul Women's Film Fest Marks 10 Years

The International Women’s Film Festival in Seoul (IWFFIS) celebrates a decade of upholding the female spirit and creativity by offering 141 films from 30 countries, April 10-18.

The world’s largest and most successful film event for women, IWFFIS has been a playground for women cineastes. But over the years, it grew to become a form of ``cultural movement’’ that explores feminine questions in larger context, as an important fiber of the social fabric.

Festival director Lee Hyae-kyoung (right/Korea Times Photo by Shim Hyun-chul) met with The Korea Times last week to discuss what it means to ``see the world through women’s eyes.’’

``Film theorist Laura Mulvey said the camera services male viewpoints and caters to their desires by objectifying females as an object of desire,’’ she said. ``The women’s film festival is not unrelated with the feminist movement. We aim to answer questions about how it would be to view the world driven by female desires and perspectives

``It also goes beyond women’s issues and fathoms what the female perspective means within the context of human and even non-human concerns, and what role it plays in creating new social systems and cultures,’’ she said.

Launched in 1997 as a humble biannual event, the film festival grew steadily. Unlike most festivals, IWFFIS is not state-funded, though it now receives generous support from the government. But whether it was small or big, the festival was always very popular, garnering an average of over 90 percent viewership for screenings _ rare for any given film event in the world. This is phenomenal considering that it caters to a largely female audience.

``Our aim is to instill in women confidence, nurturing the soul for a year until the next festival. It’s true we began as a separatist festival for women, with the female audience and filmmakers at the core. But we remained open and aimed to influence society as a simultaneous separatist and mainstreaming efforts,’’ she said.

Today, the female-male audience ratio is about 6:4. The festival is making efforts to expand to a wider audience in terms of age range. For moms, a day care center is prepared.

And in the spirit of opening up, the 10th edition of the festival features ``Open Cinema,’’ a lineup of works by male directors. ``Biological differences aren’t so important, male directors can treat women’s issues with a keen eye, while female directors can make action movies,’’ she said.

``Open Cinema is something we’ve been thinking of since our 4th edition of the festival. By opening up to males, we’re not losing our focus on women. It’s a sign of our openness and toleration, confidence and desire to communicate with a larger audience,’’ said Lee.

``While the festival retains a focus on women and social minorities, it also functions to a source of creativity and new, alternative values. If our efforts have thus far been geared to making things plausible and collective, we want our festival to help feminist values and philosophies to become a principal part of society,’’ she said.

``As society and values evolve, a women’s film festival does not have to disappear. It will continue to offer a unique perspective, not only in the context of Korean society but within Asia and in the world,’’ she said.

IWFFIS created the Berlin Asian Women’s Film Festival, which was launched last fall, and also collaborates with the festival in Chennai, India. While there are about 20 women’s cinema events in Europe, including the 30-year-old Creteil in France, and others in Asia, the Seoul festival is leading the pack.

What does it mean to ``see the world through women’s eyes’’? ``It’s hard to say in words,’’ said Lee, suggesting movies say more than a thousand words. She says one should watch at least five films to truly savor a festival.

``The themes vary, from dealing with sexual violence to postnatal depression, or it can have no theme at all. It can be very delicate or very violent. But in all, our festival allows women to express suppressed feelings and experiences in modern society. Most of all, it’s about creating alternative values in a post-modern society,’’ she said.