Visualising Shattered Lives: Potentiality in Representations of Rape Victimisation in Contemporary Japan

Abstract

Th is article examines how cinematic representations of rape can challenge the silence which surrounds the issue of rape and sexual violence in Japan. A textual analysis of two contemporary fi ctional Japanese fi lms, DV: Domestic Violence [2005] and The Ravine of Goodbye [2013], was performed to illustrate how fi lmmakers can use narrative and cinematographic techniques to infl uence the viewer to refl ect upon their attitudes to rape and rape victims. By examining how these two fi lms depict rape and rape recovery, this article argues that there is discursive potential inherent within cinema to shape our imaginations and ideals about the world. But while the fi lmmaker can construct rape representations that encourage refl ection, how the viewer decides to engage with the fi lm has bearing on whether this potential for refl ection is realised.