North Korea: A Day in the Life
by Pieter Fleury
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DVD details
Director: Pieter FleuryBrand: Facets Multimedia
Cinematographer: Sander Snoep
Editor: Michiel Reichwein
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); German (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Dutch (Subtitled); English (Original Language); Korean (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 48 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-10-31
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Facets
DVD Reviews of North Korea: A Day in the Life
DVD Review: The `censored' look at North Korea
Summary: 4 Stars
`North Korea: A Day in the Life' is a 48 minute documentary by Pieter Fleury of the Netherlands. There is no narration unfortunately but all the dialogue and commentary are with English subtitles so it isn't too bad.
When watching this program, if it appears a bit too `sterilized', for lack of a better word, that's because it is. The producer had to get the explicit permission of the government leader Kim Jong-Il to make this film. To get an idea of the constraints to filming this, the family shown in the first segment was `assigned' by the state along with stipulations that poverty stricken areas in the city and country could not be filmed. When showing commerce of any kind, only the best store in the city (Pyongyang) was allowed to be shown. Not much leeway in the production process at all. Given North Korea's reputation for a repressive regime, this becomes understandable and you would think they don't want to draw even more unwanted attention to their myriad problems in that country. Of course, allowing such censored material is only going to strengthen viewer's suspicions of what life is really like there.
In the rare number of city scenes, it appears clean and well kept but there is not enough footage shown to make a proper judgment of what it is really like. Again, it is open to interpretation. Of course, there is no shortage of seeing monuments, paintings, statues, and pictures of their leader who is always addressed as `General Kim Jong-Il' and his pervasive presence is seen and felt in almost every scene throughout the program. Constant surveillance by the government is also another unpleasant aspect faced by citizens and there seems to be no reasonable expectation of privacy for anyone.
Of the one factory that they showed, employment is rigidly structured and work is based on meeting production quotas every day. Each employee is also graded on his or her day to day work. It looks suspiciously like a sweat shop environment but a little too neat and clean. Again, it is what the government wants you to see and not necessarily how it really is. As far as private enterprise, you won't see any of that in North Korea. It is prohibited and there is a centrally supplied economy. The state decides what people need, not the people themselves.
As you might expect, as I did, there is anti-American sentiment sprinkled throughout the documentary. It is sometimes comical to watch as several citizens who were interviewed blame the United States for many of the problems in their country. Whether it is power outages, a poor economy, or anything in-between, evil America and other imperialists are the culprits.
All in all, this is an okay documentary but it is the `clean' version that North Korea wants you to believe even though you probably know better. A couple of good extras on the DVD are worth viewing. There is just too much evidence that demonstrates a more dark and sinister climate in North Korea. One thing stands out in my mind after seeing this program. There is no place like home. America has her problems like everywhere else but I still see it as the best country in the world with the best freedoms and the best government (even though it needs some work also).
Description of North Korea: A Day in the Life
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.Bestsellers in DVD
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