"Human Testimony" is adapted from the Japanese social mystery writer Seiichi Morimura's "Proof of Human Nature". It is directed by Sato Junya and starred by Okada Makiko, Mifune Toshiro, Matsuda Yusaku and George Kennedy. The film tells the sad and moving story between the heroine Yasugi Kyoko and her black son Gioni. The film was released in Japan on October 8, 1977. The film ranked second among the top ten best-selling films in Japan in 1977.
In the elevator of the Tokyo Royal Hotel, a young black American man was suddenly stabbed to death. The investigation revealed that the deceased was named Jonny, who came to Japan from the United States to find his biological mother. So, who killed Jonny? Who was his mother? After a series of police investigations, it turned out that it was the mother he was looking for and found that killed Jonny-Japanese costume designer Yasugi Kyoko .
Johnny’s black father Wilshire served in the military to Japan from 1946 to 1949, when Yasugi Kyoko lived with Wilshire as a soldier and gave birth to the black child Jonny. Later Wilshire brought the children back to the United States. Many years later, his son Jonny went looking for his mother, and his mother Yasugi Kyoko killed Jonny in order to protect her honor and status and preserve the future of another son, Kyohei. Gongping fled to the United States for a crime and was shot dead by the police. When Yasugi Kyoko won the grand prize at the 1978 Fashion Design Awards, the police arrived at the venue to arrest the killer. Seeing that both of her sons were dead, Yasugi Kyoko could not restrain the pain and complicated emotions in her heart, so she committed suicide in front of the cliff. The story told by the film
is very sad. The son’s attachment to his mother and the sorrow of losing his mother’s love are in stark contrast to the mother’s murder of thousands of miles to find her own son in order to protect her reputation. It deeply analyzes the difference between different races. The awkward human nature of facing family affection. The film is full of suspense, the plot is ups and downs, and exciting. While showing the human nature distorted by society, it also exposes the darkness and corruption of the upper echelons of Japanese society. The social significance of
"Personal Testimony" is that it is not only a reasoning movie, but more importantly, it reflects the theme. It reflects many things that other movies have not reflected. Not only is the style full of suspense, but it also depicts the characters. It is also meticulous and pays more attention to digging into the spiritual world of criminals. In short, this is a good film that opens up the social depth of suspense films.
