The Propaganda Game (2015)

The Propaganda Game: Directed by Álvaro Longoria. With Álvaro Longoria, Simon Cockerell, Kang Hyoin Gyu, Barbara Demick. Granted controlled access by national officials, filmmaker Álvaro Longoria tours North Korea to contrast his findings to the typical Western depiction of the nation.

“Film maker Álvaro Longoria managed to get permission to film inside the DPRK but it was a guided tour – that was to be expected. His tour was exclusively of the cosseted capital Pyongyang. However, Longoria knew that there would be restrictions on what he could and more importantly could not film.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHis guides take him on a tour of all the new shiny buildings and installations and shows us all the shiny happy North Koreans enjoying the gifts of the benevolent Kim Jong-un. Everywhere there are statues and pictures of u0026#39;The Great Leadersu0026#39; who must be constantly adored as some sort of deity and the people seem to have genuine emotions about these dictators. The film also interviews experts and defectors as well as human rights activists and strives to show both sides in the ever growing propaganda war.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe attempts to be balanced are credit worthy and Longoria himself missed his calling for the diplomatic mission. I was reminded of a Benny Hill sketch where an advertising board said u0026#39;People buy Smiths Pies because they donu0026#39;t know any betteru0026#39;; and I think that is why North Koreans seem to be so content with their lot in the World – they just do not know what they are missing. He did mention the markets and the hard currency shops which the regime has had to allow to exist as it was too troublesome to uninvent u0026#39;choiceu0026#39; as it were. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhat is left out is equally important and any one who has studied this u0026#39;hermit kingdomu0026#39; will know of some of the bizarre and cruel abuses of human rights, but the whole point of the film is to redress the more extreme distortions of propaganda and try to see if there is any unvarnished truth that would help us understand them. In the end I felt he did a rather good job and as such can recommend to anyone who has an interest in modern social history.”