This article is transferred from WeChat official account: one(ID: yitiaotv), self-report: Lin Shanai, editor: Lu Yuhan, the title picture comes from the movie “Old Woman” stills
Not long ago, a Korean movie “Old Woman” caused heated discussion on Weibo: Koreans are too dare to shoot!
This is Asia’s first film focusing on senile sexual assault. It tells the story of a 69-year-old heroine who was raped by a 29-year-old male carer, struggling to protect her dignity. Director Lin Shanai has participated in the film script production of “The Melting Pot”, and “The Old Woman” is her self-written and directed feature-length debut.
Because of financial pressure, it was only filmed for one month. The film was shortlisted for the “New Wave” at the 2019 Busan Film Festival and won the Audience Choice Award. It will be released in South Korea at the end of August this year.
Director Lin Shanai was contacted for the first time, and she was pleasantly surprised when she heard that the film sparked discussion in China before it was released. This is the first time she tells the story of the film creation to a Chinese audience.
Today, when the issue of sexual assault is widely discussed, there is still a group on the margins of law and public opinion: the elderly.
In 2013, South Korean director Lin Sun-ae saw a series of special reports about the sexual assault of the elderly on the Internet, and started the script creation. Before this, Lin Shanai had participated in the script production of “The Melting Pot”. In 2019, she completed her self-directed and self-acted feature-length debut “Old Woman”, with a literal translation of the Korean name “69 years old”.
The story happened in 2012. The heroine Shen Xiaojing is 69 years old, and her figure, temperament and dress are outstanding among her peers. She used to work as a nurse in the hospital, and now lives with the writer Nam Dong-in as a home nurse. One day she was sexually assaulted by a 29-year-old male nurse while receiving rehabilitation treatment.
The victim, Shen Hyo-Jing, played by Korean veteran actor Ye Soo-jung
During the process of calling the police and appealing, Xiaojing repeatedly suffered setbacks. The perpetrator declared that “this is not rape, but sexual intercourse of your own will.” The police questioned whether she was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, and the court also rejected the arrest order for the perpetrator. Only Dongren is willing to help her, but their cohabitation relationship is often criticized by outsiders.
In the investigation and interview, Lin Shanai found that the appeal success rate of the elderly after being sexually assaulted was very low. No one would believe that a young man would rape an elderly woman. This has become the target of the perpetrator of the elderly woman. s reason.
In the movie, Xiaojing desperately asked the detective in charge of this case: “If I were a young woman, that person would be arrested immediately, right?”
Sexual assault has nothing to do with age. Anyone can become a victim of sexual violence. From 2011 to 2014, there was a case in Henan where a person sexually assaulted many people in the village. The youngest was 75 years old and the oldest was 95 years old. In this regard, experts explained: Sexual assault is not only about sex, but about control and power.
Xiaojing left a psychological shadow after being sexually assaulted
The film not only discusses the sensitive topic of the elderly being sexually assaulted, but also shows the living conditions of the elderly in Korean society. South Korea is the world’s first country with a zero birth rate. The proportion of the population over 65 is as high as 15.8%, which is much higher than the world average of 9.3%.
As an East Asian country, the elderly in China are also facing similar problems with South Korea. Most Chinese elderly people lack social participation and are extremely dependent on their children. Taking their grandchildren, doing housework and square dancing make up their old age. At the same time, there have been many times in the society that elderly people who cannot take care of themselves have been abused and sexually assaulted by carers, which has caused great psychological and physical harm to them.
The China Development Foundation predicted at the beginning of the year that China will formally enter the aging society around 2022, and the elderly population 65 years and over will account for more than 14% of the total population. Whether it is the sexual threats the elderly may face or the discrimination they face in their daily lives, they are all topics that need to be addressed.
Lin Shanai said in an interview that what she showed in the movie was not only the harm caused by young men to old women, but the discrimination and prejudice against the elderly in the whole society: no sexual attraction, no labor value , There is no right to pursue a partner in his later years… In this way, even the elderly themselves will gradually lose their self-esteem and self-love.
In the discussion about “Old Women” on Weibo, some people questioned “Korean people dare to shoot anything, but nothing has changed.” In this regard, Lin Shan’ai said frankly that she did not hope that a movie would change the world, but wanted to record the world from the perspective of an observer. And what drove her to write this story was her deep sense of powerlessness.
The following is Lin Shanai’s narrative:
Take the first step on the subject of senile sexual assault
There are already many movies on sexual assault incidents, but as far as I know, there are almost no movies focusing on the sexual assault of elderly women in Korea and other countries, so I decided to take the first place in this theme. step.
After searching for real cases and related laws, I set the background of the story in early 2010.
South Korea enacted the “Special Act on Sexual Violence” in 2010. This bill was enacted to increase the punishment of sex offenders. If the victim is a child, adolescent or disabled person, the victim investigation will be conducted by women The police proceeded, and the perpetrators would be detained unconditionally.
However, there are loopholes in the actual operation of the bill.
In the movie, Xiaojing is disabled, but her case didn’t evenA case was filed and the court rejected the arrest order for the perpetrator on the grounds that it is impossible for young men to sexually assault older women.
The perpetrator, played by actor Jin Junjing
In daily life, many people regard older women as genderless people. This prejudice is precisely the reason why the perpetrators target older women, because “even if they call the police, no one will believe it.” Because the heroine Xiaojing was sexually assaulted, everything in her life collapsed, but the perpetrator was not expelled from the hospital, and his life remained unchanged. All secondary injuries and losses caused by sexual assault can only be borne by the victim.
The inner wound cannot be healed
At the beginning of the movie, there was a scene where Xiaojing didn’t move her limbs at all, allowing herself to float freely on the water. This reminds me of the image of a woman who has completely broken the law of life after being sexually assaulted, sinking to the bottom in the struggle.
Xiaojing likes swimming very much. Even at 69 years old, she still keeps swimming habit. On the one hand, swimming can naturally highlight her figure. On the other hand, swimming is a regular exercise. If you lose the regularity of breathing, you will sink into the water. This is the same as Xiaojing’s life interrupted by sexual assault. Very similar.
inIn the first half of the movie, Xiaojing had this line: “Everything will get better with the passage of time.” But when I saw the end, I realized that not everything is like this. My favorite scene is the scene where Xiaojing hangs clothes on the roof behind the film. She watched the sun shine, took off her rubber gloves, and raised her hand. You can see that the bruise on her wrist caused by the sexual assault has completely disappeared.
She turned her wrist, looked and looked again. Although external and physical injuries can be healed over time, internal wounds are difficult to heal.
Among Korean actresses in their 60s, there are not many who are suitable for the role of Hyo Jung, and Mrs. Ye Xiujing is the best candidate for this role. I handed over the script to the art teacher. Fortunately, she thought the subject matter was very good. She once said that a young man could write such a script and she was very proud.
“I hope that the elderly will stop picking up tatters”
The heroine in the film, I set her age to 69 years old, which is what I personally think of as the boundary between middle age and old age. Although this movie is based on sexual assault incidents, it also reflects the plight of the elderly living in Korean society.
There was a scene in the hospital. Xiaojing went to see the head nurse. After seeing her dress, the head nurse sneered and said: “If you dress like this, who would think you are a nurse?” Even if you are of the same sex, you can’t Be kind to older women.
Xiaojing’s request for help from a friend was rejected
Xiaojing complained to the female owner of the restaurant: “The only place that needs me now is here.” This sentence is not only talking about jobs, but also reflects the prejudice that older people are always considered to have no social value. Teacher Yi Xiujing once said in other interviews: “I hope that the elderly will not pick up rags.”
I have a child in kindergarten. When picking up the child from school, I often see some elderly people picking up the child instead of their parents. Many of these people are not relatives of the children, but nurses who specialize in picking up children from school. In fact, this is a good choice, because they are still playing their value as a labor force in society.
Dongren said to Xiaojing in the movie: “Don’t give up, no matter what it is.” This line not only contains his hope that Xiaojing can fight to the end in the sexual assault incident, but also is in line with the society’s attitude towards the elderly. Attitudes collided head-on.
I hope the film can show that even the elderly have their own dignity, and they want to fight to prove that they are still alive.
The relationship between Xiaojing and Dongren was questioned by the police
If you do nothing, there will be no change
“The Old Woman” is not a commercial investment film, but was filmed with a government subsidy, so the budget pressure is relatively high. Our shooting time was only one month and only 19 scenes were shot.
In filming, I intentionally weakened some scenes that might be misleading, and also reduced the amount of information in the film. A lot of news about sexual violence often exposes the personal information of the victim and the perpetrator. This information has nothing to do with the case, but willLet viewers have prejudices, such as accusations of victims, sympathy for perpetrators.
In the film, I don’t want to be deliberately sensational to highlight Xiaojing’s misfortune, but I hope the audience can view this incident objectively. If the audience can be provided with space for their own thinking and judgment, then they will always remain motivated to find answers when watching movies.
Last year, “Old Woman” ushered in the first audience at the Busan Film Festival. I was very excited and curious about their comments. After the film screening, many viewers uploaded film reviews, and many people fully understood what I wanted to express, which moved me very much.
In 2018, after Korean society experienced the Metoo movement, there are still many incidents of sexual violence every day, especially the sexual assault incidents of elderly women are still in a dead end. As a woman living in Korean society, I have more or less experienced the threat of sexual violence. Most women of my age have similar experiences.
I don’t want the movie “Old Woman” to only reproduce a certain case. I hope the audience can realize that what happens in the movie is not an individual case that happened to someone, but a “In the future, things are likely to happen around “us”.
I will write more stories about women and marginalized people later. A movie may not change the world, but at least it can play a supervisory role, and most importantly, it can deter the perpetrators.
I believe that if nothing is done, nothing will change.
(Note: some of the materials come from Finecut Korea)