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Special Features
- Interview with director Pieter Fleury
- TV news item
- Impressions of North Korean TV
- Screening in Pyongyang
- Trailer
Editorial Reviews
In this rare look inside North Korea, director Pieter Fleury gained unprecedented access to a country generally cloaked in secrecy. Using "a day in the life" format, Fleury follows the daily routines of a typical North Korean family as they go to work, attend school, and participate in English classes. Though the country’s inhabitants sincerely put their best face forward, the relentless images and ritualized practices of government propaganda offer a telling portrait of this controversial country.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wanna See A Horror Movie?,
By
This review is from: North Korea: A Day in the Life (DVD)
Although this film is described as following a 'typical family' through a typical day in their life, we know that the family in this film had to be hand picked and very likely trained for the filmmakers. Still, that in itself speaks volumes about how tightly controlled everything - and everyone - is. I won't go into details because the descriptions of life in this hellish country can't possibly compete with the images. The thing that makes it all so surreal is that what we see as a nightmare way of life is something that the North Koreans see as enviable. They're so out of touch with the rest of the world they really do believe they have a model society. Of course, this place isn't hellish in the way that Sudan or Afghanistan seems hellish. Everything in North Korea seems incredibly clean and orderly to the point of sterility, and the entire population seems to have been replaced by the Pod People from Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Even the smallest children are incredibly quiet and subservient. I had to admit I was almost impressed by the sight of a Kindergarten classroom full of still, silent children lined up along the walls like glass dolls, until I remembered; they're children - they're supposed to be loud and unruly! I have to wonder how the teachers do it; is it Ritalin or... I don't think I really want to know. It's definitely spooky.
Spooky is the key word here. There's nothing that one can compare life here to other than maybe a Gulag run by Moonies, but what we are seeing is only what we're allowed to see. I can't imagine what the lives they don't want us to see must be like! The documentary has no narration, which is smart; we should let our senses guide us. But I actually found the extras on the DVD even more compelling than the film, particularly the discussion with the factory workers after the director came back and screened the film for them a year later (the film is a Dutch production). The translation by the interpreter at one point is hysterically wrong, which in itself is a sign of how self-censorship is automatic. At the end of the day, the thing that is most disturbing in this film is that all the people we meet are kind and likeable and the kids are cute as buttons but ... they think of us Americans as monstrous dogs who deserve to be wiped off the face of the Earth (usually stated with about as much passion as ordering one's dinner off a menu). How much the people in that nation really believe that and how much of it is a polite regurgitation of propaganda for the cameras I don't know. I refuse to hate these people; I'm sure most of them are miserable. But I get chills down the back of my neck when I try to imagine even half the population believing even half the propaganda they're told. This is an uncomfortable but extremely fascinating documentary!
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Shows how out-of-touch the regime is which choreographed it,
By
This review is from: North Korea: A Day in the Life (DVD)
North Korea fascinates due to it being the most isolated (by its own choice) and most severely repressive nation on Earth. There are, to my knowledge, three insightful DVDs on the subject: `A State of Mind', `National Geographic - Inside North Korea' and `North Korea: A Day in the Life'. I have purchased all three. An important point to note is that any footage allowed out of North Korea is almost exclusively of the capital, Pyongyang, which is far from being representative of life in the country as a whole. Only a fraction of the population are specially selected to live there; even for these `privilaged' souls life is bleak and dominated by political propaganda.
`A State of Mind' concentrates on the preparations of two young gymnasts for the showpiece Mass Games performance. Of the three, this DVD gives by far the best and deepest insight into the brainwashed mindset of the North Koreans, with its excellent documentary narration and carefully selected material. It is also important to bear in mind however that this film only shows what is approved by the regime - all the despicable aspects of the North Korean experience are not covered. There also has remarkable footage of the Mass Games of course and the grand military parades (both visually stunning) that seem to be the focus of life there. `National Geographic - Inside North Korea', being told from our outsider's perspective, is the only complete and balanced overview of North Korea here. It puts North Korea on the map with its historical context, draws widely on footage from many sources and - free of regime censorship - shows as best it can the true horror story that the regime tries to hide at all costs. Information presented on health standards, nutrition and the extensive concentration camp system are quite staggering. `North Korea: A Day in the Life' is what the title says it is; it follows a day in the life of a `typical' (regime selected) family in Pyongyang. This is not narrated and concentrates solely on the daily routine, so really brings across the bleakness of these people's life. Again this officially-approved film only shows what is approved by the regime. The carefully selected images shown (for example the table overloaded with food in a city known to be tightly rationed) and the often unreal scripted dialogue only really serve to show how out-of-touch the regime is which choreographed it. This film does show well the grinding inefficiencies of North Korean life, but all-in-all compares poorly with `A State of Mind'. For a good understanding of North Korea, I recommend viewing `National Geographic - Inside North Korea' and `A State of Mind', in that order.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Humanizing the Axis of Evil,
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This review is from: North Korea: A Day in the Life (DVD)
There can be no question about it Pieter Fleury's North Korea: A Day in the Life is a propaganda piece. Never before had a western journalist been given so much access to a country that is traditionally cloaked in secrecy. But propaganda aside the film does give its viewers a look inside this closed world.
Following the daily activities of the Hong family we get a glimpse of what their life is like. Ms. Hong works in a textile factory and is constantly being observed by the government and her fellow workers as we witness power outages and productivity meetings in which the workers berate themselves and their fellow workers for lack of productivity and mistakes. The problems are generally blamed on the Americans who children are taught to hate from an early age. The song mother and child sing on the way to school is chilling. The family's young daughter goes to school where she learns of the goodness of dictator Kim Jong Il (the General) through a parable of a pair of boots that he gave up as a child so he could wear wet sneakers like his comrades. The school day is completely regimented and the children come across as robots parroting the party line. The father spends his day in class learning English and not much else is shown concerning him except that he sweeps the street in front of the statue of the General on his way home. An extra feature says that such work is noticed by the government. Fleury says in an interview that the purpose of the film was to build a bridge between countries by humanizing the people and by showing them laugh. This is shown in the film but what comes across even more is the sterile environment of repression. These are normal people carrying on normal activities in an abnormal world. See this film for what it is an unflinching look at a world many of us thankfully will never experience.
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