{"id":4285,"date":"2012-05-03T14:28:31","date_gmt":"2012-05-03T18:28:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=4285"},"modified":"2012-05-03T14:28:31","modified_gmt":"2012-05-03T18:28:31","slug":"film-abduction-the-megumi-yokota-story-2006","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=4285","title":{"rendered":"Film: Abduction – The Megumi Yokota Story (2006)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Return to: <\/strong>Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>A<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Film: Excellent\/ DVD Transfer: \u00a0n\/a \/ DVD Extras: n\/a<\/p>\n

Label: n\/a\/ Region: n\/a\u00a0\/\u00a0Released: n\/a<\/p>\n

Genre: Documentary<\/p>\n

Synopsis: \u00a0Gripping investigative documentary of the strange disappearances of local Japanese citizens, and North Korea’s crafty spy agency.<\/p>\n

Special Features: n\/a<\/p>\n

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Review:<\/p>\n

Patty Kim and Chris Sheridan\u2019s documentary (co-produced by Jane Campion) covers one of the strangest aspects of North Korea\u2019s attempts to keep secret tabs on their neighbours: the abduction of Japanese citizens for the sole purpose of teaching native spies how to mimic Japanese language, customs and behaviour for perfect assimilation.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s something straight out of a best-selling spy novel set in the Cold War era, and yet even if one knows the premise, the events that trace a family\u2019s efforts to find their daughter and the eventual truth of a truly despicable cover-up is incredibly gripping.<\/p>\n

The narrative is literally propelled by breaks in the case, as separate investigative streams \u2013 a journalist, a detective, and the parents of Megumi Yokota \u2013 eventually converge and come to the conclusion that Yokota was among several men and women snatched by North Korean spies at night, usually while walking along a wide open beach. Were it not for the Yokatas pleading for further information \u2013 on the street to often indifferent passersby, on TV, and to journalists \u2013 the government would never have bothered to push the North Korean regime for answers.<\/p>\n

Japan\u2019s Prime Minister flew to Pyongyang to meet with leader \/ despot Kim Jong-il<\/a> \u2013 a first after years of icy relations \u2013 and one senses a bargain was set up: if genuine efforts weren\u2019t made to provide answers, Japan\u2019s generous food donations might be reduced. What stemmed from the visit were some answers, in addition to a Japanese fact-finding mission, but for the Yokotas and other affected families, the truth was partial: while some families benefitted from reunions, others had to confront more grievous situations.<\/p>\n

SPOILER ALERT<\/p>\n

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Woven into this complex story are extraordinary revelations which affected the families not once, but multiple times: for the Yokotas, their marriage remained intact, but threatening their sanity was the cruel journey of losing their daughter, discovering she was kidnapped by a foreign power, then told she had committed suicide, then the existence of a granddaughter, and the realization that Megumi may well be alive after the North Korean government sent trophy ashes to end one family\u2019s persistent demands for answers.<\/p>\n

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END OF SPOILERS<\/p>\n

Through these horrible events the cameras \u2013 both from the documentarians and period news cameras \u2013 were present, and what emerges is a rich, deeply affecting tale of human trauma; deliberate, insidious, and incipient. Patty Kim and Chris Sheridan\u2019s documentary hovers carefully around its subjects, capturing the pain of the various parents and siblings whose lives are a chunk emptier; even when there are selective reunions, the joy is overshadowed by outrage, and the impunity of North Korea\u2019s spy agency.<\/p>\n

Amazingly, the directors managed to interview a former spy who knew the man that snatched Megumi, and his recount of her transport, and difficulty in accepting her new life is sickening. The coldness of the events is contrasted by the vestiges of the abducted victims – from their untouched rooms, hobbies, memories from surviving family members, pictures, and in Megumi\u2019s case, a tape recording of her solo performance in a school choir – performed shortly before her disappearance. For viewers, when the extract is played near the end of the documentary, it hits with the weight of sledgehammer.<\/p>\n

Abducted: The Megumi Yokota Story<\/strong> deeply affecting film that simultaneously documents the ongoing emotional trauma of loss, and in Japan\u2019s case, the conflict of providing humanitarian aide to an odious regime.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2012 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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External References<\/em>:<\/p>\n

IMDB<\/a> — Film Website<\/a><\/p>\n


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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews<\/a> <\/em>\/\u00a0A<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to: Home \/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews \/ A . Film: Excellent\/ DVD Transfer: \u00a0n\/a \/ DVD Extras: n\/a Label: n\/a\/ Region: n\/a\u00a0\/\u00a0Released: n\/a Genre: Documentary Synopsis: \u00a0Gripping investigative documentary of the strange disappearances of local Japanese citizens, and North Korea’s crafty spy agency. Special Features: n\/a . . Review: Patty Kim and Chris Sheridan\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[18],"tags":[1090,1089,1088,1093,1086,1091,1087],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-177","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4285"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4285"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4813,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4285\/revisions\/4813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}