"Kukan," which translates from the Chinese as "heroic courage under bitter suffering" was a 1941 documentary commissioned by Li Ling-Ai and photographed by an American named Rey Scott, described here as an “Indiana Jones kind of guy." Li Ling wanted the film to alert the American people to the plight of China's population, who were being subjected to mass murder and rape by the invading Japanese army. Director Robin Lung crafts a detective story about how one independent Chinese woman, playwright, and producer mounted this previously long lost film (winner of an honorary Oscar), but ultimately was overlooked, her contribution merely credited as a technical advisor. Li Ling is presented as a determined and shrewd "drama queen," hocking her family's jewelry to finance the film, securing an audience with President Roosevelt, and exploiting her connection with Robert Ripley of Believe It or Not fame to gain publicity. Li Ling comes across as a still peppery and outspoken figure in a 1990s interview (she died in 2003), and her comments are accompanied by contemporary interviews with family members, restoration experts, and film critics (including Video Librarian contributor Phil Hall). The original documentary Kukan, screened in recent years in China, is notable for highlighting the war contributions of Chinese women, and it features some vivid shots of the Japanese bombing of Chungking, but it remains a curio and historical footnote, one that touts the democratic future of China, but fails to recognize the rise of the insurgent Communist army. But Lung's Finding Kukan pays fine tribute to a "little woman" who became a "big hero." Extras include full-length and abridged versions of 1941's Kukan. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (S. Rees)
Finding Kukan
(2016) 75 min. DVD: $95: high schools & public libraries; $325: colleges & universities. New Day Films. PPR. Closed captioned. ISBN: 978-1-57448-440-3. Volume 33, Issue 1
Finding Kukan
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