Customer Reviews

National Geographic - Inside North Korea

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Everyone should see this documentary about what must be the worst country in the world. I can only say what so many others have said about this film.

BUT! There was one thing I noticed. The lack of respect Miss Ling and her cameraman showed sometimes. Their behaviour could've put others in GREAT danger. The first thing was when the camera man lied down on the ground to photograph a statue of Kim Il Sung. They put the guide and the security guard in GREAT danger by doing that. It was easy to see how scared he was when he said he had to leave the country. The guide/guard is the one who'll be accused for letting foreigners behave that way, and might be sent to a gulag camp. (Ms Ling and the crew must've known that it was forbidden in the first place!)

The other thing was when the team visited the old blind woman, and Ms Ling first asks what's the favorite picture of the great leader, and then asks if the great leader can do anything wrong. Had ANYONE of the North Koreans answered those questions in ANY way, it would've meant fatal consequences for them! The North Korean family had no less than six observers observers watching them, and even a fraction of doubt in the faces could've been seen as doubt to the regime. This could've meant DANGER for the family. Consentration camps, torture, execution etc.

I couldn't stop wondering what happened to the North Koreans who appeared in this movie after the film crew left. I can only hope nothing did, but I also fear the worst.

So to Ms Ling and her crew: Remember not to put your objects in danger!

It's hard to imagine a society so repressed and isolated where you and your entire extended family can be placed in prison for life merely for questioning the "Dear Leader"(Kim Jong Il). This documentary revolves around a Nepalese doctor who brought his team and equipment into North Korea to perform cataract operations on 1000 blind North Koreans, and in the process, teach North Korean doctors the procedure. A news team posed as part of the medical team. Also includes interviews with defectors.

Overall, this is a very well done production by National Geograhic and can serve as an effective introduction to the DPRK. National Geographic did a fine job covering all of the basics in terms of the history of North Korea, the Kim regime and their personality cult, the Juche philosophy, and the current state of affairs on the Korean peninsula. However, it did it all without any great detail. In that regard, this program could be considered a primer of sorts for the non-expert.

While there are some excellent interviews with North Korean defectors that provide interesting insights, from my perspective, the program's biggest weakness is the fact that it is less than an hour in length and tends to leave the viewer "wanting more." The other negative in my opinion was the choice of Lisa Ling as their correspondent. Granted, North Korea is a world unto itself and though Lisa Ling did a good enough job presenting information, there were numerous times throughout the course of the film where it became clear that she was a little out of her league (for instance, a few of the questions she asked the "typical family" whose home she was allowed to visit, were just ridiculous).

The film also does a nice job illustrating the high level of ideological indoctrination typical of the population. However, even that should be taken with a grain of salt simply because in a society that repressive where strict obedience is the difference between life and death, no outsider will ever be able to know for sure just how much of the ideology the average North Korean citizen actually believes in their heart of hearts and how much of it is merely parroted back as a means of survival. However, at this stage, perhaps that point is moot.

On balance, this is an excellent introduction to the "Hermit Kingdom," and highly recommended for anyone with even a passing interest in the one of the most closed societies in the world.

Even though the crew were filming clandestine footage of the country, they weren't really able to get any hard video of the nastiness of life in North Korea. That is, until the very last day, and then they didn't even have to try to sneak around their North Korean "watchers" to get that footage: it was encouraged.

What was the most damning footage? It was when they filmed the scene at the end of their stay of the patients whom the Nepalese eye surgeon had operated on, when they first removed their bandages and could see after years of blindness. The first thing these people did - all of them - was to bow down to the photographs of Kim Jon Il and his father and praise them. They wept with tears of joy and gratitude - not to the surgeon who actually performed the operation (and who went completely unthanked and unmentioned by his patients), but to the dictator.

The dictator who while denying his people basic medical care, lives a life of luxury.

And *THAT* was the most incredible scene in this documentary, in my opinion. It showed more than anything else just how miserable the lives of these people are.

Bravo! This was an incredible documentary, and I absolutely endorse it with both thumbs up.

With North Korea being so closed off from the rest of the world, we hear little more about them other than they are a nuclear threat. This film offers a rare chance for the world to see what really lies behind the heavily guarded Demilitarized Zone.

An eye surgeon from Nepal who travels the world teaching surgeons techniques in eye surgery and healing as many people as he can while he's there has received permission from Kim Jong-Il to travel the secluded country to do 1000 cataracts surgeries in 10 days time. Lisa Ling and her camera crew are able to get permission to accompany the surgeon in order to film his work. In addition, they are able to use this time in North Korea to learn what life there is really like for it's citizens.

They are guarded 24hrs a day by "minders" the whole time they are in the country. These same minders take them to the homes of some of North Korea's most privileged residents for interviews. Quickly you realize how controlled this country is. No one dare speaks anything but praises of Kim Jong-Il. They worship him as almost a god.

The movie also includes interviews from previous North Korean defectors. They give incite into the horrors people there really face. Concentration camps for the family members of anyone who flees the country, punishments for the slightest mistakes made and a nation filled with starving children are just some of the hardships. Yet through all their suffering, they still adore their "Great Leader", as they call him.

National Geographic also spent time filming the intricacies of the Demilitarized Zone borders. With both North and South Koreans standing guard facing each other every day, 24 hours a day. It shows how they are literally so close they could pull soldiers from one side to the other.

A really well done movie that gives us a chance to see into a nation cut off from the rest of world. If you enjoy this film, I also suggest A State of Mind, which takes a very close look into the lives of the North Korean people who perform in the countries "Mass Games".

I have seen a decent amount of North Korean documentaries (not that there are many) to get the point that:

#1. The minders control what message gets out.

#2. You only get the pretty pictures.

This documentary showed the pretty pictures the North Korean government allowed out, a few snuck in shots, and some back story from people who have a history with the place. But of everything in the film, the most terrifying is what the government did sanction.

The last 10-15 minutes are a downright disturbing realization of an Orwellian world. We are well aware of the police state. We are well aware of the catastrophe of humanitarianism. We are NOT aware that people have begun to embrace the fear and love the party. Obviously, overarching statements will not fit all cases But what this documentary succeeds at is displaying the disappearing line between poker face and unwavering loyalty.

If you want a dose of life outside of freedom, check this out. Amazing and so well done. You will leave with so many emotions - gratefulness, sadness, frustration, compassion, outrage.

The irony of this is Lisa Ling is the reporter who entered North Korea under an artifice to do this documentary and now her sister is imprisoned in North Korea. I wonder if the North Koreans are punishing the sister for Lisa's 'crime' of exposing certain truths about their 'worker's paradise'?

This film is a must for kids ages 12 - 18. In this day when Americans are fed up with their own government, it sheds light on what the alternatives are around the world. Lisa Ling exudes courage at every moment, which my high school girls were inspired by. The film shows how one man, "the Great Leader", can use personal power to ruin a nation and hold its people hostage without them even knowing it. My students love this film and it comes up over and over again throughout the school year.

Like many of the "Explorer" programs I've caught, this piece does not attempt to present its topic in a great deal of depth. If you're looking for thoughtful analysis or an abundance of pertinent facts you may be disappointed. It does however present some interesting footage, valuable enough coming from a state that so effectively controls what's presented to the outside world and provides coverage of a subject too rarely found on television. All this in a mostly straightforward and un-contrived way*. As an eye-opener for those unfamiliar with the subject (myself among them) who haven't the time to engage in serious research; this is an interesting program.

-- As a side note, my 80 year old Japanese grandmother found this very fascinating. In particular she pointed out many parallels with the pre-war Japan in which she grew up. I think it is difficult for many Americans to conceive of the kind of control a powerful government can exert upon its own people. For that exposure alone, this program is worth the time to watch it.

*I do remember a few flippant comments in the narration, and the "interviews" felt as though they were constructed to highlight the interviewer's notion of the expected "American" response. But nothing so serious that I would go back to get a quote. This isn't particularly good reporting, but it isn't terrible either.