Tenko

[JellySlice]

Anyone remember Tenko? I was in my teens when it was first on. Mum and I were riveted by it. I would like to watch it again - would I see it differently now, with a few more decades of life experience?

Anyone read King Rat by James Clavell? Fiction, but inspired by his experiences as a survivor of the Japanese POW camps. Empire of the Sun by JG Ballard, similarly fiction inspired by the author's experience surviving Japanese civilian internment. Themes that come through very strongly in each are the desperate hunger and diseases of malnutrition; the only way to survive being to support each other - knowing that others eating meant you might go hungry, and not knowing whether someone eating meant they had betrayed you for food; and the constant fear of explosions of violence from the guards.

There is a book called If This Is A Woman by Sarah Helm, about the experiences of inmates of Ravensbruck, a concentration camp for women. It's a very difficult read (in terms of being harrowing). The SS had strategies to prevent the women forming friendships and allegiances, but it was so important for survival for the women to look out for each other. I read it after reading A Life In Secrets by the same author, which dealt with female S.O.E. agents, many of whom ended up in Ravensbruck. Female S.O.E. agents would be another great subject for a television drama. Secret Army, about the resistance, had some strong female characters. Isn't it interesting that there are often better female roles in films and dramas from decades ago?

I remember my Mum watching this but I don't recall much of it so I can't have been very old. I think she may have recorded some of it (Betamax!).

I'd forgotten about it but I'm going to seek it out to watch.

It was Tenko that finally helped my MIL to speak about her four years in a Japanese prison camp during WW2. She was incarcerated as a 14 year old, starved and beaten, and only found out her brother had died in the men’s camp after they were liberated. The Japanese were guilty of horrific war crimes and spent decades trying to avoid paying compensation.

I don't know if I've imagined this but I'm sure I saw an interview at the time with some of the actresses (actors?). They said the producers had asked them rather shamefacedly if for authenticity they would mind growing their underarm hair for the filming. And they hoped the request wouldn't upset their partners/husbands.

Yes - this is covered in the companion book I mentioned upthread. That's exactly what happened and the actors rightly told him where to go.

I've just watched paradise road. Like tenko x 100000
Utterly brutal😪

When I was nursing in Australia, I learned about Vivien Bullwinkel

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivian_Bullwinkel

I'd like to see her story filmed, although it would be horrific.

I first saw this as a kid. Rewatched it just recently; maybe because it feels like something of a comfort blanket to re-watch series I enjoyed with my mum when she was alive. She also took the trouble to talk to me about it, and educate me on the women's issues that came up.

I found it every bit as fresh, thought-provoking, topical and moving as I did on first airing. For starters it definitely passes the Bechdel test - as in EVERY episode. Even in 2021 that's still rare. Questions surrounding the way women bond when the chips are down (and sometimes the reverse) were also alluring, and chime with my own experience.

Plus the acting was sublime. To me Stephanie Cole and Louise Jameson were absolute stand-outs.

Definitely worth a rewatch. I think it's timeless.