Windbags

Movie: The Red Chapel

My Rating: 2 stars

I think North Korea has become the latest cultural equivalent of Mount Everest.  It’s become a tourist destination for wealthy Westerners who want to be seen as adventuresome and edgy.  And, just about all of these travellers make sure to document their subversive exploits by making semi-secret documentaries about the whole thing.  Of course, since the North Korean cultural exchange goons carefully controls the sights that foreigners have access to, all these documentaries end up looking almost identical to one another.  Still, it’s possible to distinguish between the different films when it comes to technical skill and overall concept.  Various filmmakers are probably hoping to accomplish different things with their films, even if the Koreans are marching them past all the same monuments to their dear leader.  Some are attempting to show the poor conditions these people are living in, or the country’s outdated technology.  Others focus on the stress the people are living with as they are forced to slap a smile on their faces and give their little speeches about how much they love the place—all while fearing that if they slip up just a little, they’ll be dragged out of their homes in the middle of the night and forced to labor in some salt mine.

Many of the visitors have good intentions.  But Mads Brugger?  It seems like he’s more interested in showing how provocative and brave he is, regardless of the consequences.  And, the consequences of shaking things up in North Korea are bad.  Brugger keeps trying to slip his lefty ideas past his state-mandated chaperones—reciting liberal poems at revered statues, playing popular Western songs with his guitar for large audiences, refusing to alter the creative integrity of the play he’s staging for some university students.  And, you can see these chaperones getting more and more nervous by the moment, because ultimately if the government decides that this visit was a problem, it’s their heads that will roll.  It’s kind of a jerky move, and pretty self-centered.  Mads Brugger brought a pair of Korean-Danish comedians along with him to perform a fun little play for a carefully screened audience.  They will perform the play for the censors, and accept any “suggestions” they may have in order to make the play a little more “appropriate.”  But, Brugger is determined to be very stubborn in an effort to provoke the government officials into some sort of aggressive display. 

But, he doesn’t even really accomplish his goal very well.  Brugger doesn’t succeed in setting any examples, changing any minds, or demonstrating how evil North Korea is.  He mainly just succeeds in terrorizing his poor travel companions.  He really stresses out his “accomplices” by demanding that they participate in his game long after they beg to be let off the hook.  Needless to say, Brugger doesn’t come off very well.  I think this says something about his general level of self-awareness.  There are plenty of other, excellent documentaries about North Korea out there (like, A State of Mind).  I’d recommend sticking to some of those, and giving this one a skip.