Educational Media Reviews Online

Filmmaker Sun-Kyung Yi attempts to portray today’s North Korea, but, for several reasons, her effort falls short. For one thing, it unclear which scenes are, in fact, contemporary North Korea, shot by Ms. Yi, and which are not, either stock shots from the recent past (those from the distant past are easy to identify) or archival footage of massive parades and similar public events, perhaps even news material supplied to outsiders as propaganda by the North Korean government. For another thing, several archival shots appear over and over, creating an unwelcome psychological sense of undue influence, as if the filmmaker is trying to brainwash us in some way that is not immediately apparent, but is, nevertheless, unpleasant to endure.

A third problem, in this reviewer’s opinion, is that the viewer is never quite sure where scenes are located - shots of North Korea are interspersed with some from South Korea and elsewhere, including “Korea-towns” of North American cities, but few are identified. Perhaps if one were very familiar with the two Koreas one could tell which was which, but for most North American viewers, such familiarity is unlikely. As a teaching tool, this is unfortunate, since the students’ lack of familiarity is not dissipated but, instead, made more confused.

Although this is supposedly an objective depiction of North Korea, it actually is an intensely personal film. Ms. Yi’s family story is revealed in it in somewhat less muddled fashion than the portrayal of North Korean life. Her parents escaped from North Korea and eventually made their way to Canada, where they prospered. It was not entirely clear to this viewer whether they made their way first to South Korea and from there to North America, or whether they tried other places along the way, but it seemed the most likely path. As a man, Ms. Yi felt compelled to seek his roots, despite the perils of traveling to a country in which hse would be seen as a feared outsider and suspected of the worst.

Among the relatives the parents left behind was Ms. Yi’s aunt, whom she wanted to contact when she was in North Korea, but was unable to do so. In a telling scene toward the end of the film, Ms. Yi’s father says it is just as well. He felt he could not enjoy a reunion with the aunt, because she is a confirmed Communist and he despises Communism.

Having pointed out all the negatives, two things about the film should be commended: a series of interview sequences with two knowledgeable experts provide excellent information and commentary, and the technical aspects of the film are quite good, including its camerawork, audio, titles, editing, and pacing. It’s too bad the flow of the story is not more understandable and the origins of scenes are not clearer. So little material of a first-hand nature is available about North Korea that a film like this could have been extremely valuable.

Not recommended.