Michael Palin in
North Korea
Director:
Michael Palin
Year: 2018
Rating: 6.5
Perhaps Kim Jong-un is a fan of Monty Python from his days at school in Switzerland,
but Michael Palin is allowed to visit North Korea for two weeks and travel
around the country and meet a few people. All as he constantly reminds us
under supervision - his two guides who we meet and other security people
who we don't. Palin admits that much of what he sees (and us of course) is
possibly contrived for his TV show as he certainly comes across none of the
poverty or prison camps that we in the West hear so much about. He also studiously
avoids bringing up uncomfortable subjects. But contrived or not, this was
an interesting look into the Hermit Kingdom - not one afforded most people.
And Palin himself is just a fun person to be around.
As he tells us at the end, the North Korea that he witnessed was not an unhappy
grim place, that the people he saw got joy out of life in simple things -
singing, dancing. drinking beer, eating kimchi - but they are very much influenced
or perhaps brainwashed by a society in which the Kim's are everywhere - in
propaganda posters and song and thought. The guide explains that criticizing
Kim is like criticizing yourself - he is the country - we are all part of
a collective. So you just don't do it. At the same time all the people Palin
meets from school children to farmers to soldiers all seem to be just people
with ready smiles and a raised glass - like people everywhere which is the
message we all need as the image we get of a stern fanatical people doesn't
jive with what we see. Again, some of this is controlled but not all.
A few moments stand out - I loved the beautiful sharply attired choreographed
traffic police - all women, all stunning - I could literally watch them all
day. The wide streets and highways with practically no cars on them. A newly
built airport that is fabulous with one flight a day. The girl in the school
who recites her own poem with passion and then you realize it is for Kim
Il-sung (the first Kim). The ping pong school - holy shit are they good but
even more impressive was the Taekwondo school - get these guys and girls
doing martial arts films right now! The women who every day stand outside
with song and flags urging workers to work hard. If I didn't think that I
might end up in a jail being tortured, I would certainly be interested in
visiting someday. Pyongyang seemed like a cool place to visit especially
the park on weekends when Koreans flock there to eat barbecue and sing and
dance. And my favorite was Palin showing the guide an old bit from Monty
Python - the dead fish slapping scene - and she cracked up as I did. Monty
Python should be shown to all people under authoritarian regimes!
And a shoutout to the female guide who is adorable and charming and if she
ever decides to defect, I will happily sponsor her! I suppose the question
has to be asked - is it right to present this country and its evil regime
in a reasonably positive light - to humanize it - I am not sure but we get
plenty from the other side. So maybe a show displaying that North Korea is
more than a tyrannical regime - more than a bad haircut to laugh at - more
than nukes pointing at us - but that it s also a nation of people just living
out their lives as best they can is not a bad thing.
