National Geographic - Inside North Korea

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Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Type: DVD
Studio: National Geographic Video
Release Date: 2007-03-20
Join National Geographic's Lisa Ling as she captures a rare look inside North Korea - something few Americans have ever been able to do. Posing as an undercover medical coordinator and closely guarded throughout her trip, Lisa moves inside the most isolated nation in the world, encountering a society completely dominated by government and dictatorship. Glimpse life inside North Korea as you've never seen before with personal accounts and powerful footage. Witness first-hand efforts by humanitarians and the challenges they face from the rogue regime.

A Beginner's Guide to North Korea
This film might be useful for someone who knows little about North Korea; it's a good starting point. I use the film myself with high school students who are studying George Orwell's "1984." However, there are a few caveats. The film emphasizes scenes of people bowing before portraits and statues of the Great Leader and the Dear Leader. In one stunning segment, blind people who've had corrective surgery (the film makers come in pretending to be part of a medical team) pull the bandages from their eyes and immediately begin praising the Dear Leader and kowtowing before his portrait. An ominous soundtrack adds to the surrealism. The implication (since this is the last segment in the film) is that all North Korean citizens have been completely brainwashed. As O'Brien, speaking of the Party, says to Winston in 1984, "We shall fill you with ourselves." Then the camera cuts away to images of ICBM's---and the implication clearly is that nuclear weapons are in the hands of a nation that is impervious to reason. North Korea is a bizarre, dangerous, and chilling place (read the recent memoir of the American deserter Charles Jenkins). But to summon up old canards about hordes of Asians in thrall, drone-like, to fanaticism is to suggest that such people would be immune to diplomacy----and we know where that takes us. If you use this film in class (or just see it yourself), bring along a little skepticism about the choices film makers make to tell a good story. An interesting (and better) film to see in conjunction with this one is Daniel Gordon's "A State of Mind," about two girls preparing for the North Korean mass games.

A must see
This is a must see. Anyone who wonders why North Korea is such a mess will understand now.

Interesting, but Ethically Questionable
A unique and very interesting look inside one of the most bizarre and cruel societies on Earth. Content wise, I really enjoyed "Inside North Korea," but I have to admit, I felt pretty guilty about enjoying it. Here's why . . . .

I have to question the wisdom and journalistic ethics of making this documentary in the stealthy way that the folks at National Geographic Channel did. They basically used a desperately needed humanitarian relief organization to sneak in Western reporters, which are otherwise absolutely forbidden by the paranoid and ultra-secretive North Korean government. Didn't it occur to Lisa Ling and National Geographic that, by cloaking themselves in the mantel of humanitarian aid to film a forbidden documentary, they might severely jeopardize any future humanitarian efforts? Did they think that after Kim Jong Il found out he'd been suckered and embarassed, he would ever let another international relief agency into his country to care for his long-suffering populus?

Even more disturbing is the life-and-death peril into which this production knowingly placed the official North Korean guides assigned to Lisa Ling and company. Throughout the program, Ling repeatedly comments on the terrible consequences of visitors asking the wrong questions, taking the wrong pictures or doing anything that might in any way be perceived as critical of or disrespectful to the North Korean government. But these consequences aren't so much for the foreign visitors themselves; they're for the visitors' guides, government-appointed handlers who face severe repercussions if the foreigners in their care step out of line, including being sent to concentration camps where they would almost certainly die. Was making a one-hour documentary for cable TV worth knowingly sacrificing these people? This isn't like some American corporate stooge getting fired for saying too much to Michael Moore. If Lisa Ling's narration is to be believed (and I can think of no reason to doubt it), because they made this documentary in the clandestine way that they did -- using lies, subterfuge, and trickery --, their North Korean guides (AND their guides' entire families) are going to suffer and maybe even die. Cheers, National Geographic Channel. Hope the ratings were worth it.

N Koreo is a Totalitarian Country
A journalist goes with a group of doctors that are curing cataracts and she poses as a medical journalist but in fact is their to take video of the unknown state of N Korea and believe me it's not to pretty and really doesn't get to film much of the city since she is constantly on watch by Kim Jong cronies.

Kim Jon il is literally "GOD", everybody from birth is trained to worship him and obey his every wim. All people are restricted from outside communication (Internet, Cellphones, etc). All literature is written by Kim J father, Kim Son. Around the end you will see the people fall on their knees thanking the great leader for the curing of their cataracs when he was the one that caused it in the first place.

Made me cry
Everyone should see this documentary about what must be the worst country in the world. I can only say what so many others have said about this film.
BUT! There was one thing I noticed. The lack of respect Miss Ling and her cameraman showed sometimes. Their behaviour could've put others in GREAT danger. The first thing was when the camera man lied down on the ground to photograph a statue of Kim Il Sung. They put the guide and the security guard in GREAT danger by doing that. It was easy to see how scared he was when he said he had to leave the country. The guide/guard is the one who'll be accused for letting foreigners behave that way, and might be sent to a gulag camp. (Ms Ling and the crew must've known that it was forbidden in the first place!)
The other thing was when the team visited the old blind woman, and Ms Ling first asks what's the favorite picture of the great leader, and then asks if the great leader can do anything wrong. Had ANYONE of the North Koreans answered those questions in ANY way, it would've meant fatal consequences for them! The North Korean family had no less than six observers observers watching them, and even a fraction of doubt in the faces could've been seen as doubt to the regime. This could've meant DANGER for the family. Consentration camps, torture, execution etc.
I couldn't stop wondering what happened to the North Koreans who appeared in this movie after the film crew left. I can only hope nothing did, but I also fear the worst.
So to Ms Ling and her crew: Remember not to put your objects in danger!