Review by Colin Dibben
As a young journalist, writer-cinematographer-director Shiori Itō was raped by one of Japan’s most respected journalists, a man who was friends with and a biographer of then-prime minister Shinzo Abe.
Shiori starts to film her investigation of her own sexual assault. The film combines secret investigative recordings, vérité shooting and emotional first-person video diaries, as Shiori’s quest becomes a landmark case in Japan, where (astonishingly, if I understood correctly) non-consent isn’t itself grounds for rape, only violence is.
What is remarkable about the film, if one takes Shiori’s own courage, tenacity and resilience as a given, is how like a thriller it becomes as the different film formats mesh. And this is, in many ways, despite Shiori’s very personal emotional notes and responses that we see on-screen to every new hard won piece of information.
Shiori herself picks up on a related issue, when she talks about the tension between her personal emotions and sense of who she is, and the ‘third person’ perspective that the camera (as much as the paperwork) inevitably creates. Filming herself and at times being filmed by close friends melds contemporary forms of socialised narcissism into the form of the investigation itself. At first, I found this clash of ‘styles’ off-putting, but then I saw that it is an essential part of both the investigation and the film. However, the immediacy of the personal approach and the social media formats does distance the viewer from the crafted nature of the story we are told.
The ’thriller’ elements of the investigation are nailbiting, especially because the viewer is identifying so closely with Shiori. Most disturbing is the conspiracy that unfolds against her: the rapist seems to have enough clout to get a Tokyo police chief to rescind an arrest warrant that is about to be served (the cops are outside his house when the call comes through!). The chief subsequently gets a promotion.
Then there are the Kafkaesque police interviews that we hear recordings of: Shiori is told in almost the same sentence that the arrest warrant does and doesn’t exist. The glimpse into Japan’s conservative family based culture is insightful too: Shiori is often told not to pursue or publicise her case because a press conference – not even a court case! – will reflect badly on and bring shame to her family. The accusation seems to have killed her career as a journalist at any rate, and that is another truth she has to embrace as a young woman trying to make her way in the world.
There are several positive elements to the investigation, that may have you punching the air or weeping with relief, even before Shiori’s victory in civil court. She is aided at key points by a policeman, referred to only as Investigator A, although he appears to be chatting her up too at one point. The only unreservedly good man who can help Shiori is the doorman of the hotel where the attack took place. He finally comes forward, at just the right moment, highlighting once again the mediated and crafted nature of the film we are watching.
There’s even a funny note struck when protestors for her cause don’t recognise her in the street and try to get her to sign a petition.
Black Box Diaries is out in cinemas from 25 October 2024.
