"22": Declare to the world the Chinese people's attitude of remembering history

yesterday, the 72nd anniversary of Japan's unconditional surrender, there was encouragement for a special film in moments. "22", the first documentary about "comfort women" released in China, counterattacked from 0.3% of the pre-arranged film to 1.4% of the first day of production, and then to 4.6% of yesterday evening. In the end, the single-day box office exceeded 10 million yuan, creating an unexpected and reasonable miracle.

yesterday, the 72nd anniversary of Japan's unconditional surrender, there was encouragement for a special film in moments. "22", the first documentary about "comfort women" released in China, counterattacked from 0.3% of the pre-arranged film to 1.4% of the first day of production, and then to 4.6% of yesterday evening. In the end, the low-budget documentary earned more than 10 million yuan at the box office the day after it was released yesterday, creating an unexpected and reasonable miracle.

unexpected is for the film market. "22" does not have much publicity in the early stage, does not have the guaranteed distribution model that is common in the operation of commercial films today, and even stumbles on its normal release-it took three years of online crowdfunding to reach the cinema audience. It is reasonable to be entirely out of history and national feelings. It does not matter whether it is in line with the art of film, what is important is that this image record from the national memory and the local land is itself a deep engraving of history. In a sense, the film's performance in commercial cinemas once again demonstrates to the world the attitude of the Chinese people in remembering history.

< strong > all the embellishments are superfluous in front of the heavy history < / strong >

in 2012, post-80s director Guo Ke filmed the life of Wei Shaolan, a survivor of "comfort women" in Guangxi, and her "Japanese son". At that time, there were only 32 publicly identified survivors of "comfort women" in the country, from which the name "32" got its name. In 22, only 22 elderly people survived, and in order to preserve this history as much as possible, Guo Ke began the production of the documentary film "2014."

how to film the memory of suffering, and whether there is the suspicion of consumption tribulation, which Guo Ke has pondered over and over again. Sitting in the studio, the audience will feel the unique flavor of the film: no shocking soundtrack, no emotional narration, the camera reined in all the whitewash skills, extremely deserted. In the picture, except for the ordinary life of 22 old people in the countryside, we can rarely read the painful memories that have been sealed for a long time. Guo Ke said frankly: "get along with the elderly for a period of time, when I see the eyes of the elderly, I think your choice will be the same as mine, will not ask." At that moment, you were just a junior, not a director. When I treat them as my relatives, my shooting will be measured, and the problem will have a bottom line. Lengthen all the shots and give the audience a chance to look at them affectionately to understand the living environment of the elderly and their feelings. "

but it is this kind of "boring" picture that has the effect of deterring the mind. As the director said, "if this were my grandmother, would I ask them to answer those bloody questions?" They are living people, but also great old people in history, only affectionate gaze, is the greatest respect.

< strong > in front of the national righteousness, all emotions are spontaneous < / strong >

"as long as you get a'1% 'arrangement, it will take about 6 million at the box office, which means that 200000 people will enter the cinema, and that's enough." Guo Ke said this before its release. But on the first day of the release, the box office of more than 3 million yuan a day has made Su Beiqi, the film's staff, grateful. "it's a miracle," she said.

as early as October 2015, "22" got a public release license, but the distribution fee was insufficient, and the film was crowdfunded on the public welfare platform. As a result, a total of 32099 people participated in the crowdfunding and raised more than 1 million yuan, which successfully solved the problem of going to the cinema. At the end of the film, this long list of 32099 names appeared on the subtitles. In addition, actor Zhang Xianyi took the initiative to lend 1 million yuan to shoot fees, a large number of scholars provided help, stars recorded videos calling on audiences to enter the cinema, and theater managers took the initiative to schedule many more shows-- these coincidental spontaneous behaviors contributed to the results of "22" today.

at the end of the film, the names of 22 old people appeared on the screen in black and white, and were framed one by one, and the rest of the names gradually faded. On August 12, two days before its release, Huang Youliang, one of the protagonists of the film, died in Hainan at the age of 90. Only "eight" is left in "22", and "32" will eventually return to zero, and the laws of nature are irreversible, but some justice must be done. The old man was one of eight Hainan "comfort women" who went to Japan to sue, demanding that the Japanese government apologize and restore the reputation of the victims. From July 2001 to 2011, after ten years of litigation and struggle, the Japanese court determined the facts of the infringement in that year, but ruled against the plaintiff on the grounds that "individuals have no right to sue the country."

now, Huang Youliang is gone, and none of the old people who went to Japan to take part in the lawsuit waited for an apology from the Japanese government. But the face of history will not be blurred, "22" is the best proof-we will not cry all the time, but do not forget.

Edit: mary