Four hours that will dismantle everything you thought you knew about postwar Japan.
Portraying the fifty-year history of zainichi (long-term residents in Japan) Koreans after the liberation of Korea, traces of zainichi evoked in this film question the concepts of 'post-war democracy' and 'pacifism' in Japan. With copious stock footage and testimony, the first half of the film, "History," chronologically traces the various experiences of zainichi from Japan's defeat (Korean liberation) through 1990. The latter half, "People," focuses on first, second and third-generation zainichi respectively, vividly depicting how they live.
Editing
Stock footage woven into intimate testimony with devastating precision.
Direction
Oh Deok-soo's patient, unhurried trust in his subjects' voices.
Director
Oh Deok-soo
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released in 1998, this preceded a wave of zainichi visibility in Japanese cinema including films like 'Go' (2001) and 'Blood and Bones' (2004).
The 260-minute runtime was radical for theatrical documentary — Oh reportedly refused to cut, insisting viewers must sit with the weight they were asked to ignore.
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