North Korea hasn’t had the best relationship with the world of film lately. In spite of his father Kim Jong Il’s enthusiasm for the silver screen (He even wrote a book called “On The Art Of Cinema"), current leader Kim Jong Un was less than flattered to feature in Seth Rogen and James Franco’s The Interview.
But it may just be that Kim is a gentler soul who prefers an empowering romantic comedy with a strong female lead to Seth Rogen being Seth Rogen. In that case Comrade Kim Goes Flying must be right up his street (we can assume so, considering it was allowed to be made at all).
Released in 2012, the British-Belgian-North Korean feature film has been described as a “light, refreshing rom-com about girl power” by British co-director Nick Bonner (Bonner is the founder of Koryo Tours, which operates package holidays to the land of Juche, should that be your thing).
The film centres on heroic worker Kim Yong Mi, who happens to share a name with a North Korean synchronised swimmer who competed in the 2008 Olympic Games, as she defies the odds by leaving behind a career in mining to become a trapeze artist.
Bonner told the Guardian in 2013 that Comrade Kim Goes Flying is definitely not propaganda: "If you've seen a North Korean propaganda film, this is as far removed from that as is possible. Those who believe they have an understanding of North Korea, well ... what do they know? What does anybody know about North Korea? This is the big problem."
Indeed, comrade. Indeed.
For a slightly less romantic view of Kim Jong Un’s slave state, try this Amnesty film on life in North Korea’s labour camps.
