‘Black Box Diaries’ Review – The Warm Blanket Of Hope, Support, Love And Change Every Sexual Assault Survivor Needs

This review contains numerous references to sexual assault. 

“That’s what girls have to think about all the time. Am I right, ladies?” With that sentence, Saoirse Ronan recently silenced the all-male sofa, including Denzel Washington, Paul Mescal, and Eddie Redmayne at The Graham Norton Show. While his new television series The Day of the Jackal taught Redmayne how to use a phone as a self-defence weapon, life has taught women that same lesson for years. Having a phone (or keys, for that matter) in the hand as a self-defence mechanism has become second nature, especially when the days are becoming shorter and the dark nights longer.

However, most of the time, no amount of protection, whether it’s objects women deem as potential self-defence weapons or protection from the law, is enough to protect women from men with sexual abuse, rape, and potentially murder on their minds. Sadly, that’s something journalist Shiori Ito had to find out in an excruciating and life-changing way when she was raped by Noriyuki Yamaguchi, Washington Chief of the Tokyo Broadcasting System and a close friend of the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe.

While trying to process what happened to her, Ito decides to write a book about the events and also turns the camera on herself in Black Box Diaries. Stepping into the role of writer/director, in this documentary she addresses the broken justice system, especially towards rape victims, while also documenting her legal battle against the prominent male figure who raped her. While her story takes place in Japan, what you see in this feature could have easily happened to another woman in another city worldwide.

And what you witness in Black Box Diaries certainly warrants the trigger warning at the beginning. Surrounded by a tranquil river (which is undoubtedly the only tranquillity found throughout the 104-minute runtime), the warning advises people who have experienced sexual assault to close their eyes and take a deep breath before watching this documentary. It’s advice that everyone could use, especially when seeing the grainy security footage of that terrible night during the first scene.

It’s 2015, and Ito has just started as a journalist. Eager to secure a job in Washington D.C., she contacts an esteemed older colleague, Yamaguchi. However, what should supposedly have been a job interview turns into the nightmare of every woman. You see how her perpetrator violently drags her out of the taxi into the hotel lobby and the room.

The filmmaker uses that scene multiple times throughout the documentary – resulting in a slight decrease in the impact of that security video – and when seeing it for the first time, you won’t only feel overwhelmed with emotions but also with many questions. While Ito mainly focuses on the prosecution of her abuser and the absence of legal protection for the victims, you can’t help but wonder if she also should have focussed on society itself and what each individual can do in aid of preventing rape and help victims as there’s a lot to be done still.

Via the elegantly edited together documentary-style footage – hidden camera videos, official recordings from press conferences and news outlets, video diaries, and audio recordings from private meetings – you do find out that prominent public male figures and news outlet conglomerates are taking the side of the rapist, vilifying Ito and looking away like the rape never happened. While it is sad to say, hearing and seeing that information isn’t genuinely shocking anymore, as that’s what keeps happening to victims all over the world.

What truly takes your breath away is how society looks away when having the power to change things. During her taxi ride with the same driver who drove Ito and Yamaguchi to the hotel during that terrible night, you can hear Ito asking why he didn’t drop her off at the station like she requested multiple times during the evening and why he instead took both of them to the hotel like Yamaguchi wanted.

While Ito’s rape isn’t the taxi driver’s fault – as Yamaguchi would have committed the crime potentially during another meeting with his victim – him just asking his female passenger if she’s okay or just dropping her off where she wants might have prevented the awful things happening on that night. The same goes for the hotel doorman, who witnessed the whole ordeal and initially kept his mouth shut on orders from the hotel management.  

While many people – including witnesses and sadly also victims – keep quiet, Ito shines a light on the people who are brave enough to stand up, starting with herself. You genuinely feel her courage coming through when standing up against men of power, her determination when she fights for justice, her immense fragility and tenacity, as well as her love for her family. You even witness how the weight of the trauma pushes the journalist towards suicidal ideation, despite her mentioning earlier that suicide isn’t something that’s on her mind. While the act of rape itself lasts a few minutes, an hour, or an evening, the impact lasts a lifetime.

Hearing Ito say, “Normally I feel naked when talking about my case, but now it’s like I’m being covered by blankets,” when receiving support from others is probably one of the most powerful moments in this documentary. It’s that warm blanket that she and every rape victim deserves, but sadly, most of the victims are being left standing in the cold. In choosing to come forward, Ito doesn’t only create a painful, heartbreaking, powerful and courageous documentary. She is also the beacon of hope, inspiration and positivity for other victims worldwide.

Black Box Diaries is out now in select theatres courtesy of MTV Documentary Films.