A Film Review of North Korea: A Day in the Life

This documentary by Dutch filmmaker Pieter Fleury offers a rare glimpse inside the secretive state of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) better known as North Korea.

The films follow the daily life of a typical family living in the capital Pyongyang. However, as the filmmaker notes, the 'typical family" in the film, the Hong family, were selected by the North Korean government and surly vetted and trained to put forward a "good" image of life in the capital.

In the film, viewers get a fascinating look inside this country where every aspect of life is tightly controlled. The morning walk to school Mrs. Hong and her child encounter marching soldiers and "cheerleaders" spouting communist propaganda. Once at work in a textile factory, Mrs. Hong works her shift sewing garments - at least when there is power. When the power is out, like the rest of the comrades in the factory, she turns to studying the works of the Great Leader Kim Jong Il.

Meanwhile, Mr. Hong is shown is school learning English. In one conversation the class is asked if they know about the International Network (Internet) but most students have never heard of it. Little else of Mr. Hong's day is shown.

Back at school, the adorable Hong child is shown learning about how the Dear General Kim Jong Il as a child refused to wear the boots his mother made. Rather, he wanted to wear wet sneakers like the rest of the comrades. Why should they suffer and he get to wear new boots? The story teaches the children how the Great Leader is always looking out for them.

At the end of the day, once of course the factory workers report on their day's production and criticize poor performers and berate themselves if they've performed poorly, we see Mrs. Hong returning home. Once again throughout Pyongyang there are comrades on microphones extolling the virtues of the Great Leader and how he's protected North Korea from the outside world.

In the evening once the Hong family is home, we meet the grandfather who was in the Korean War. He tells stories of Bush and the American Dogs and how they need to be wiped off the face of the earth.

All in all, North Korea: A Day in the Life does offer a fascinating look behind the bamboo curtain that seals off North Korea from the rest of the world. Although that view is one the government stages and wants you to see, it does show what life is like for many people in the country. Take it with a grain of salt, and as long as you understand much of what you're watching is staged by the North Korean government for the sake of the filmmakers, this film is one of the best to show North Korea from the inside.