Photo Courtesy of Hot Docs
THE APOLOGY
Directed by: Tiffany Hsiung
Throughout World War II, more than 200,000 girls and women were forced to become “comfort women” and pushed into sexual slavery by the Japanese army. Now, the “grandmas” who have been affected by this travesty have banned together with allies to demand recognition from the Japanese government for what happened to them and thousands of others. With subject matter as profoundly heartbreaking as The Apology, it is difficult to call this an enjoyable film, but it is instead an incredibly important film. The documentary discusses what happened through several interviews with three grandmothers: Adela from the Philippines, Cao from China, and Gil from South Korea. All three are incredibly strong women who openly — albeit painfully — discuss the hardships that they endured when they were young girls.
The Apology is an incomparably moving documentary that will ignite a flame within its audiences, with its frank discussions of seemingly unimaginable violence endured by such young women. Further adding to the atrocities is the Japanese government’s claims that “comfort women” were a necessity of the war. “I thought my body was being broken,” one grandma explains in one scene about her first days sold into sexual slavery, “I was 14.” This documentary is an incredibly difficult one to watch, but it is nothing compared to what its subjects had to experience. It will upset you, it will break your heart, and it will open a conversation about a very important subject. (Richelle Charkot)