The Propaganda Game

In recent years, a few documentary makers have entered the otherwise closed country of North Korea--some of which covertly filmed the land and its people. All of the films like these that I've seen have been rather critical of the repressive North Korean regime and its human rights violations, but this new film is a bit different. While it features some interviews with folks who are very critical of North Korea, it also allows the North Korean propaganda machine ample time to present its well-scripted case that their land is a sort of nirvana and that they must maintain their military might and readiness to protect itself from capitalism and democratization. It's a bit of a confusing film, mostly because you see happy and well-fed North Koreans. But, it must be remembered that the Spanish film crew was led around with government officials and they simply couldn't go where they wanted. In particular, the strange ex- Spaniard and North Korean government official Alejandro Cao de Benós takes the crew about the country and there is no freedom of movement for the filmmakers. So, when they ask about concentration camps and starvation, you never really get to see much of the country other than a couple brief and scripted trip to the countryside and insistence from Benós that such places don't exist. Instead, you see almost exclusively views of the capital, Pyongyang and with loyal North Koreans who seem like model citizens. Overall, the effect is very strange. On one hand, the country looks nice and clean and BIG....but on the other, much of it also seems fake (such as the odd church service they attended). Worth seeing but I am really not that sure what the message is or what most folks will take from the film other than confusion. Because of this, I would recommend you see other films to get a more complete view of the state of the country and its people, such as "A State of Mind", "Crossing the Line" as well as "Seoul Train".

Let's put this out of the way - everyone knows that an organised tour of the DPRK is one massive facade. For a filmmaker to gain entry and keep that much footage, the film absolutely had to showcase happy citizens, sprawling buildings and new technology. How could you expect anything else?

What makes this film brilliant is what he did with the footage.

Aptly named "The Propaganda Game", director Álvaro Longoria takes us with him on tour of North Korea's capital Pyongyang. What I really enjoyed about this film is its rawness - You get to see everything from Longoria's eyes and decide for yourself what is real and what is not. It felt like a very personal experience. The deception of the State and its effects on its people are nothing short of terrifying. How could they act so naturally if everything is staged? Could it be real? Are they really so brainwashed? Are these people suffering? How?

I think some people who have seen it are confused, judging from some other reviews. I urge you to see this film without searching for concrete answers. Longoria presents many opposing arguments but there really is no telling the extent of North Korea's deception or on the flip side, the warping of information in Western media (I mean, The Guardian is pretty ridiculous.) I suspect Longoria himself does not know what to make of it. You simply can't find that kind of information on North Korea; experts themselves do not have the full truth nor do they all agree with each other. Such is social science. There is simply too little information, and the film captures that wonderfully. Speculating would be unwise.

The film leaves you rather unsettled, but I believe that was the intended effect. How could we be comfortable when a system as oppressive as the DPRK's is still surviving to this day? Its message, if there must be one, is that the people of North Korea are suffering - and that instead of looking at them as ignorant fools living in a joke of a nation, we should be sympathising with them and condemning such cruelty.

It is a film that focuses on the people, and is a much needed take on the subject amongst all the hoo-ha surrounding North Korea.

By turns disturbing, depressing and mildly annoying. This might have been better if it focussed on 'the Spanish soldier' and his motives. There is ultimately little depth (possibly due to the fast paced cutting to talking heads) and most subjects are glossed over. With only lip service being paid to balance this film doesn't 'sit on the fence' it 'sits on the DMZ'.

This is an obscene movie made by a poor quality team. There are others productions from the same decade, most of them better. So this is not even rare. The lack of footage is compensated with many scenes filmed in Europe. And the producer is simply lazy or the Spanish have became overnight world specialists in North Korea. Finally all the talking heads drum their kind of propaganda oblivious to the facts and everything becomes a cheap TV report about what one or another might think about a given situation. What makes everything even worse is that the Spaniards are way too happy to enjoy the protocol and prefer to rip off old documentary footage than risk their behinds into filming the people. Something most American Documentaries do.

Contact me with Questions, Comments or Suggestions ryitfork @ bitmail.ch

The Propaganda Game is a welcome companion to Under the Sun, in which we have a cousin doc that explores the question mark that is North Korea. Asking more questions than it actually answers, one feels compelled to not only examine the North Koreans belief system but also our own which has had an unsteady philosophy of demonizing that which is contrary to our own. I'm not at the point of booking passage there but my mind is definitely on the fence as to what our great enemy really is bringing to the world's table.