'Comfort women' film a sleeper hit

A documentary film on the lives of 22 sex slaves in China who survived World War II has become an unlikely hit.

Su Beiqi, the head of the film's promotional team, said they expected the low-budget documentary, Twenty Two, which was shown on just 1 percent of China's 45,000 screens on its opening day Monday, which was international "comfort women" day, to have fewer screens as time passed.

But the unexpected enthusiasm shown by viewers has changed the plans.

On Tuesday, the number of screens rose to 4.9 percent across the nation and reached 10.8 percent on Wednesday, according to the Chinese distributors.

The latest figures show that the documentary raked in 35 million yuan ($5.23 million), making it one of the biggest sleeper hits of the summer, according to the live box-office tracker Cbooo.cn.

Meanwhile, more than 18,400 netizens commented on the film on the country's most popular reviewing site, Douban.com, where it has earned 9.1 points out of 10.

Commenting on the film, Jiang Yong, an industry watcher from Beijing, said the film bravely handles a sensitive subject.

Su Zhiliang, a professor at Shanghai Normal University, said the movie adopts a neutral tone while recounting one of the darkest chapters of World War II.

"It (the film) looks calm, but it is bubbling underneath. Some of the women have kept their past a secret for their entire lives. ... The Japanese government owes them an apology," Su told thepaper.cn, a news website.

Separately, Ren Guanqun, a 22-year-old college student, said: "I was surprised to see the hall was nearly full, considering it was a Monday afternoon. People were supposed to be working then."

Still, the documentary has stirred controversy online, with some netizens criticizing the director for inflicting pain on the survivors a second time to make money. But director Guo Ke said he tried to minimize the hurt by spending time with the women and speaking to them slowly and patiently.

Speaking about the unexpected box-office performance, Guo said he will donate the proceeds - after taking out expenses - to charities that help the survivors.

Two days before the film's premiere, one of the 22 women - one of whom was Korean - who was alive when work began in 2014, died, leaving just eight alive.

Researchers estimate at least 200,000 Chinese women were forced into sex slavery by Japanese troops.

xufan@chinadaily.com.cn