Black Box Diaries

I'm normally not a fan of first-person documentaries in which the filmmaker is also the subject, but in the case of Shiori Ito's distinctive blending of personal journal and investigative journalism, it's hard to imagine a more powerful way of telling this story. Ito was a young Japanese journalist when she was raped by an esteemed, powerful, and well-connected colleague after (or as part of) a job interview. Her film chronicles this experience and her subsequent muti-year legal battle to bring to justice the perpetrator, Washington D.C. bureau chief of the Tokyo Broadcasting System, Noriyuki Yamaguchi, a friend of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Risking her career, her social standing, and her entire future while encouraged to keep quiet by her family, friends, and peers, Ito goes public with her accusations, brings high-profile criminal and civil lawsuits against Yamaguchi, and publishes a book about the experience while keeping a written and video record of everything as it unfolds.

The story is an important chapter in the ongoing #MeToo movement, providing a window into an aspect of Japanese culture that is rarely examined either internally or externally. With her very public face and voice, recordings of conversations with a police investigator who, though sympathetic to her, can't risk his job by testifying, some concealed camera and security footage, and a key last-minute act of bravery, Ito's resilience in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds is inspiring. She comes across as a powerful force for cultural change, able to withstand the bombardment of hostile critique from the mainstream media, social media commentators, law enforcement officers, government officials, and everyday people on the street. The film is engaging, infuriating, and deeply moving.