{"id":6567,"date":"2013-05-07T01:36:37","date_gmt":"2013-05-07T05:36:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=6567"},"modified":"2014-05-26T23:46:39","modified_gmt":"2014-05-27T03:46:39","slug":"film-great-north-korean-picture-show-the-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=6567","title":{"rendered":"Film: Great North Korean Picture Show, The (2012)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Return to: <\/strong>Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>G<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Film: Very Good \/ DVD Transfer: n\/a \/ DVD Extras: n\/a<\/p>\n

Label: n\/a\/ Region: n\/a\u00a0\/\u00a0Released: n\/a<\/p>\n

Genre: Documentary \/ North Korea \/ Hot Docs 2013<\/p>\n

Synopsis: Two students and a top director in North Korea are the focus of this unusually candid documentary.<\/p>\n

Special Features: n\/a<\/p>\n

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Review:<\/p>\n

When Singapore directors Lynne Lee and James Leong were given the rare green light to make their documentary about North Korea\u2019s most prestigious film school, they had to abide by two iron-clad conditions: always film under the supervision of a government-appointed handler, and use only the footage approved and released by the government \u2013 a process that sometimes mandated waits spanning half a year.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no doubt the approved material and selected subjects are supposed to convey a fa\u00e7ade of a perfectly fine regime and function as a contrast to prior documentaries where refugees have materialized with tales of brutal oppression – notably Kimjongilia<\/a><\/strong> [M<\/a>] (2009) and The Defector: Escape from North Korea<\/strong> (2012) – but what materializes is a curious blend of the absurd (people incessantly interpolate \u201cDear Leader\u201d in social and creative discussions), and moments of genuine humanism, showing ordinary behaviour of youths in film school, fussy parents, and a frustrated director (Hang Pyo) trying to make his anti-Japanese masterpiece.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s very much a totalitarian state \u2013 the signage and framed portraits reinforce the cult of leaders past and present \u2013 and there are curious censorial slips-ups (we see power blackouts, as well as unheated classrooms) but what lingers are specific people who transcend the regime\u2019s starkly defined ideology.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2013 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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External References<\/em>:<\/p>\n

IMDB <\/a>— Co-Director’s Blog<\/a> — Hot Docs 2013 Entry<\/a><\/p>\n

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Vendor Search Links:<\/em><\/p>\n

Amazon.ca<\/a>\"\" \"\" —<\/span> Amazon.com<\/a>\"\" \"\" —<\/span> Amazon.co.uk<\/a>\"\" \"\"—\u00a0New movie releases on iTunes<\/a>\"\"
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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews<\/a> <\/em>\/\u00a0G<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to: Home \/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews \/ G . Film: Very Good \/ DVD Transfer: n\/a \/ DVD Extras: n\/a Label: n\/a\/ Region: n\/a\u00a0\/\u00a0Released: n\/a Genre: Documentary \/ North Korea \/ Hot Docs 2013 Synopsis: Two students and a top director in North Korea are the focus of this unusually candid documentary. Special Features: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[18],"tags":[2013,2014,461,2816,2016,2015,232],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-1HV","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6567"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6567"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8992,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6567\/revisions\/8992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}