Three Came Home

CinemaSerf: If anyone ever watched the acclaimed BBC series of the 1980s "Tenko", then they might well appreciate the hardships that women had to endure at the hands (or the canes) of their Japanese occupiers. That oppression is well illustrated in this dark drama from Jean Negulesco. Claudette Colbert ("Mrs. Keith") is an American writer, married to a British colonial official when they are invaded. She is separated from husband "Harry" (Patric Knowles) and is soon, together with her young son "George" (Mark Keuning) interned in the most basic of camps with the other women of her community. Sessue Hayakawa is the Colonel in charge, and he has read her books and appears to have some semblance of decency towards the woman, but the rest of his staff think nothing of routine beatings to prove their manly superiority. This all comes to an head when she is assaulted and makes the mistake of complaining! Though there is nothing graphic here, at times the film is very tough to watch. It's as much in the anticipation of what they are going to do; the creative use of audio and the complete lack of hysteria - all generates an enthralling sense of peril. These women are stoic, determined and they are not going to be beaten - even when conscious that their children are pawns too, and that they might never see their husbands or their freedom again. Colbert is super and there is depth to the other characterisations; some entertaining black humour and the photography offers us a compelling look at their frequently rain-soaked, starved and terrifying existence. Well worth a watch.