Il Cinema nord coreano

Nello speciale parliamo sostanzialmente del cinema emergente sud coreano, ma come noto la Corea è una realtà molto sfaccettata, con un sud filo occidentale, e un nord rimasto al comunismo vecchio stile.
Anche la Corea del Nord, sotto il controllo del dittatore Kim Jong II, figlio del padre della patria, Kim Sung, ha una sua cinematografia relativamente  vivace. Trattasi sostanzialmente di film di propaganda, o film con obiettivi sociali e politici ben definiti. A volte esaltano i sacri valori della patria, l'antiamericanismo ad esempio, altre volte idillizzano il mondo della campagna, della comunità. Storie a volte sentimentali, semplici, spesso nello stile del cinema Urss del dopoguerra.
Film apparentemente fuori dal mondo, ma che danno in realtà un spaccato interessante di un mondo quasi del tutto sconosciuto al mondo intero. Una nazione fiera, isolata, un paese contraddistinto da colline, montagne e foreste.
Se visti con occhi disincantato, questi film posso riservare interessanti sorprese, e comunque gettare un occhio su un altro da noi che sembra lontano anni luce.
I film nord coreani sono poco diffusi e difficili da trovare, si trova qualche copia su ebay. Più facile trovare invece in vendita documentari occidentali e non su questo paese (es: su play.com).
Un esempio di film nord coreano è Urban girl comes to get married, in vendita su ebay:

"URBAN GIRL COMES TO GET MARRIED is a digital copy of a North Korean produced movie, in DVD format (from original analog)  and is subtitled in ENGLISH.  Both PAL and NTSC versions available. Produced in 1993.
Lighter comedy/drama about a clothing designer from a Pyongyang factory who goes on a work rotation with her work unit to a country village to help the farmers plant and later harvest rice.  While in the village, she runs into the farmer whose runaway duck messed up her design drawings some weeks previously in Pyongyang.  The farmer's mother and friends then try and get them together so that they can get married, but it is a tough job because she has zero interest.  The farmer then sets out to prove to her that he is a model communist team leader utterly dedicated to doing his part in creating the utopian communist society as directed by "The Fatherly Leader".
This film provides a fascinating glimpse into one of the least understood countries in the world and presents North Korean society as the North Koreans (apparently) see themselves. Everything is done communally, entertainment is by a band playing and people singing around a bonfire, the farming equipment looks extremely primitive, everyone is happy, painted communist slogans can be seen in the fields, in the village, on buses, and everywhere else, and everyone is dedicated to doing more than their part to create  "the People's Paradise".  As in most North Korean movies, sex and relationships are handled extremely awkwardly!"

Un altro esempio è Traces of life, anche questo disponibile su Ebay:

"This film is about the lives of a country girl and her friends who lose their husbands in a naval clash as they come to the aid of North Korean fishing boats that have come under fire from U.S. warships near the DMZ.  The widows struggle in their own ways not to disgrace the name of their hero husbands after they are left widowed.
The movie flashes back to when the beautiful country girl is first hit on by the naval officer who will become her future husband.  The officer is on a 3 week vacation and his commander has ordered him to make sure that he comes back to the island navy base with a bride. On the last day of his vacation, in response to his pleas, the girl's father asks her to go with the officer to his base. They get married, have a son, and posthumously, a daughter.
Upon the death of her husband, she begins to reflect on her past life with him, how she enjoyed love and the "good life" and how her life to date has really been devoid of any meaningful contribution to the society. Thus, spurning the generous offers of welfare from The Party (to which she is entitled because she and her children are families of a fallen hero), she decides to pursue a different life with the purpose of leaving some good "traces" of her life behind. She chooses to join a collective farm doing the same hard farming work as the rest of the communal members.
As is typical of almost all North Korean movies, there is a strong propaganda element throughout, the objective being to teach people not to think about themselves but to do what is best for society.  In following this new line of thought with much dedication and hard work, and avoiding temptations (such as remarrying at a young age), she succeeds in what is deemed important in North Korean society in both work, (rising to a position of a high level manager supervising other widows of heroes on the collective farm) and in her family life (her son grows up to be a handsome boy wanting to follow in his father's footsteps defending the fatherland). She gives a memorable speech at the National Convention of Heroes to which she has been invited, and earns the highest esteem from her peers and The Party!  Also, lots of military shots, including the usual suicide attack against the enemy.
TRACES OF LIFE is a 2 hour movie, and is a sold as a digital copy on 2 VCD's (which means that it can be played on a DVD player or on a computer in the rare chance that your DVD player does not play VCD's).  Check DVD player documentation to see if your DVD player is VCD, Video CD or Video Compact Disc compatible.  Video quality is fair to good with some detail and fast motion subject to a degree of blurring at times.
The main actress is a famous People's Artist from North Korea. This is an excellent movie with hauntingly beautiful theme music and scenery.  As usual, the kids in the movie are really cute."

VC