Because We Were Beautiful (2010)

Directed by: Frank van Osch | 60 minutes | documentary

The Dutch documentary ‘Because we were beautiful’ is a special project in several respects. Documentary maker Frank van Osch visited the elderly ladies in Indonesia who in the 1940s were forced by the Japanese to work as comfort women in army brothels. Van Osch was accompanied on his journey by Hilde Janssen and Jan Banning. Photographer Banning made portraits of the former comfort women while anthropologist Janssen provided the interviews.

It makes for a nice documentary, but no more than that. The interviews always follow the same pattern: an old lady tells the story of how she was arrested by the Japanese, how she ended up in the brothel and how she experienced her first time. Very occasionally we hear details about the consistent use of condoms and about a single friendly Japanese.

This repetition of moves has two drawbacks. The stories grab you by the throat in the beginning, but lose their power as you hear the same thing over and over. Even more annoying is that at the end of the film you are left with too many questions. How did these women later deal with their sexuality, how did the relatives endure the absence of sisters or nieces, how was the mutual bond in the brothel, did no one ever run away and what happened to such a runaway, what happened if someone became ill, how did the Japanese experience these brothels, what did the girls do with their free time?

What also does not help is that anthropologist Janssen is very present. Time and again we see her hugging, nodding in understanding or laying a hand on an oldie’s wrinkled hand. It becomes slightly embarrassing when the anthropologist dances along or when she explains to a former comfort girl that she (Janssen) thinks the girls were not sinful at all and that they should not be ashamed.

Due to the continuous flow of empathy and by focusing in the interviews on the ‘abduction’ and the sex, the women rarely rise above the victimhood. That’s a shame, because if you look through the tears, you see characterful ladies who have made a lot of their lives despite a false start. Youthful beauty has given way to life-scarred faces, wrinkled but with eyes full of zest for life. Those beautiful women are the main reason to watch this documentary. Perhaps the only one.