Movie Review: Untold Herstory

This dramatic story, recorded in great historical detail, is a powerful and moving ode to a woman who was a prisoner of the White Terror on the Green Island.

After reading the true story The Untold Story (流 麻 溝 十五 號), it's interesting to see how director Zero Chow (周美玲) takes snippets of that experience and weaves them into a dramatic narrative.

Although many attempts have been made in recent decades to highlight the story of the thousands of political prisoners who were once held on Green Island (then known as "Fire Island"), the roughly 100 hard-working inmates are often overlooked. . Most of them are imprisoned in closed barracks, they can only attend “re-education” courses and carry out forced labor.

Many of them were students who were suddenly arrested and taken away during the White Terror for crimes such as reading a forbidden book, saying something that could be considered a communist or dating the wrong person. Some denounce it as revenge on the people they have wronged. Records show that 26 women have been executed for their "crimes", but the actual number is likely higher.

For decades, the discussion on this topic has been taboo, especially as deportees continue to face social stigma and government surveillance. Many have refused to talk about it even after the lifting of martial law. Fortunately, the five of them opened the book of Cao Ching-yong (曹 欽 榮), gaining an invaluable insight into the horrors and hardships they had witnessed and experienced. Cao, who had studied White Terror for decades and led planning for the Green Island White Terror Memorial Park and other projects, acted as a consultant for the film.

Shot in calm, cool tones, this film impresses with attention to detail, from the carefully constructed camps and shacks to the multiple, heavy costumes and accents of the prisoners and guards. The guards of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) hail from all over China and the Taiwanese have just started learning Mandarin, which, apart from the terms they use, is very well educated.

Three fictional characters were created for the story: the young and innocent Kyoko (Yu Pei-jen) who draws everything she sees, the sad dancer Chen Ping (Cindy Lien) who attracts the attention of the Supreme Commander and Ye Shui. . -. Xia (Herb Xu), a strong-willed Christian mother and nurse who refuses to bow to authority. Chen is one of hundreds of students from China's Shandong province accused of instigating the 713 Penghu incident, and it is worth noting that the ("Mainland") Chinese are also targets of white terror.

You can pretty much tell which women in the book they are based on, but most say they are completely different and interesting. Green Island never has more than 100 women incarcerated, but in the film the number of prisoners is 100. Chow said in an interview that this was done on purpose to reveal the names of political prisoners.

The main event of the film is the "Save the Nation with a Clear Conscience" movement (一 人 一事 良心 救國 運動), which "voluntarily" tattoos anti-Communist slogans on their bodies. The mass refusal to participate ultimately culminated in the case of the "revolt" (再 叛亂), during which 14 people were executed.

In a mainstream film, the overall story and events are melodramatic, but that's what captivates viewers and helps draw more attention to this forgotten story. The historical elements are well presented and incorporated more smoothly into the narrative, which helps to extract them from specific verbal recordings that reflect the emotions experienced by the subject during certain events. The general political climate of the time was also reflected in the newspaper clippings kept secret by the inmates and in the conversations of the prison administration.

Despite the government's attempts to dehumanize and brainwash prisoners, the film highlights their interactions, friendship and humanity as each attempts to maintain their sanity and dignity in different ways.

All in all, this is a strong statement and a tribute to these women and their willingness to persevere under the most difficult circumstances. The two women described in the book spent more than 12 years in prison on made-up charges, but after their release they simply went on to live their lives. If you can read Chinese, be sure to pick up a book after watching the movie.