How realistic?
Anyone has any idea who and how filmed this one?
AFAIK it's hardly possible to record anything in North Korea about the lives of its people.
So, how? And where?
Hey
They would have been given permisson first (to enter the country and to make the documentary) and of course told what they could film and what they couldn't. Just like the BBC the documentary crew would've had guides with them at all times.
This film was made by Dutchman Pieter Fleury. Unlike most other Western people, I do not think it's entirely fair to say that North Korean people are 100% unhappy. There's lots of negative propaganda about any communist country in the world, hence Cuba and China. As if people in the capitalist countries are all that happy. We have lots of homeless people. We have high unemployment rates. Why is communism all that bad? I'm not saying I'm totally in favor of communism, I'm just saying it's wrong to judge countries in advance, without really knowing anything about them. I have seen this documentary, and of course I know it's somewhat coloured, but the people seemed happy enough to me. They're working hard, but pay no taxes or whatsoever. I'd rather be working hard in north korea than being homeless in the US of A. And who's more war-driven: Kim Jung Il or George W. Bush? And can anyone tell me why it's ok for the USA to have atomic weaponry and why it's not ok for North Korea to develop them?
shareFitzie, I guess "22" is your age... ;)
Of course some people "seems" some kind of happy here, how could it be different when you live under such propaganda since you're 3 years old?? Think before you write! I'm not pro-US at all, but you're asking bout the difference between Bush (a criminal leader for me if you're asking..) and Kim Jung ? The freedom to write those lines!
This film was made by Dutchman Pieter Fleury. Unlike most other Western people, I do not think it's entirely fair to say that North Korean people are 100% unhappy. There's lots of negative propaganda about any communist country in the world, hence Cuba and China. As if people in the capitalist countries are all that happy. We have lots of homeless people. We have high unemployment rates. Why is communism all that bad? I'm not saying I'm totally in favor of communism, I'm just saying it's wrong to judge countries in advance, without really knowing anything about them. I have seen this documentary, and of course I know it's somewhat coloured, but the people seemed happy enough to me. They're working hard, but pay no taxes or whatsoever. I'd rather be working hard in north korea than being homeless in the US of A. And who's more war-driven: Kim Jung Il or George W. Bush? And can anyone tell me why it's ok for the USA to have atomic weaponry and why it's not ok for North Korea to develop them?
um yeah, watch this movie then get back to us
North Korean communism has very little in common with the classic ideals of, say, democratic socialism.
North Korea is an Orwellian state centralized on a bizarre cult of personality, where the leaders past and present are revered as near gods.
This is a dictatorship, where the state is injected into every aspect of life, where there are no rights, and the constant threat of famine (or famine).
It is closed off from the world. It is an abomination.
There is nothing good about the North Korean system, and the Korean people deserve better. I make no statements about any other political system or country, except to say that almost any alternative is better than what North Korea has now.
Study it closer. I am sure there are some people in North Korea who are very happy - there are probably people who live their lives in service to the state who are comfortable. There are also vast prison camps, starvation, and so on.
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ehh... China is becoming modernized very quickly, whatever that means, but I wouldn't say the rights enjoyed by their citizens are necessarily head and shoulders above those of N. Korea.
Nevermind, I would. As repressive and hostile China is to its people, the fact that North Koreans prefer to flee to China to become beggars, low farmhands to peasant or prostitutes says enough, not to mention the risk of what will happen to them if they are caught and deported.
People can go starving in N.Korea because the land isn't arable, farming techniques are woefully inadequate and any food that they (the government) can get their hands on is diverted into the military complex (probably their families and government officials also). Attempts to feed them by NGOs have been futile at best.
I heard that when USSR was dissoluted, it was bad for North Koreans, because 'now they couldn't go work in Siberian camps' anymore, which was apparently better, while we would see that as a punishment.
Well, the current president of North Korea hasn't started as much wars as George Bush, but still : why are they trying to leave? Why is it not allowed to just go and film like in the USA and many other countries?
You will probably say now that the USA doesn't have really free media and all, but I witnessed with my own eyes how protesters on the exact fourth anniversary of 9/11, when the ceremony was taking place, were allowed to say all sorts of things (conspiracies too) about the president. Police stood nearby but did not intervene. When I went to USA, I thought that that would never be allowed, but I was wrong apparently.
Would you dare to go do that in Pyongyang?
I'm not sure if this has been posted on the board for this film before, but here's another film about North Korea.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6951629397402742053
It shows a rather more grisly side of the country.
That was a very useful link, thankyou for posting it.
The above video shows the real DPRK, not this questionable piece of film, which I do own by the way, and whilst it does portray some realities of NK life, frequent power cuts for example, you really have to film outside Pyongyang to get a realistic view of that nation.
If you really want a glimpse inside the DPRK, then look for a British-funded documentary called 'Undercover in the Secret State'. Ogrish also have some videos of DPRK public execution and interrigation/torture, but I personally wish I hadn't seen them.
the whole country it`s like a huge nazi concentration camp or soviet gulag. everyone who try's to leave is being shot directly. in the last famine died 2 million people, that's about 10% of the population.
the movie is totally fabricated. sometimes they show new technology like the guitar amplifier and combine it with 50 year old cable and electrical connectors. this doesn't make any sense. it's ridiculously.
the familie which is shown seems to be from the goverment. normal people there don't dress like that.
there are lots of movies out there who show the real thing in north korea. "undercover in the secret state" is really an eye-opener.
Octarinelouise, that link no longer works.
Care to post a new link, or tell us the name of the film?
Thanks.
In the US it's backwards. Mostly the media is not all that free to say that they like the president.
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If there is any propaganda in the US it is coming from the Left. (see the attempt at the "fairness" doctrine, see Liberal universities silencing opposing views: www.thefire.org) Look how the media is currently treating Obama (ranked the most liberal of all the senators in 2007).
You should visit the 100 Million Victims of Communism Memorial in Washington D.C. and learn from history's mistakes.
There is no need to try and fix what isn't broken, and you don't need to try and find a "problem" for your "solution."
Wow Fitzie, wow.
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