The Mole: Undercover in North Korea

I'm not a critic. All I can say is, if you want to see an undercover spy operation with real footage, watch this!

The adrenalin you feel is real. Imagine the adrenalin and fear you'd have felt if you were the one doing it for 10 years straight.

Absolutely incredible bravery and commitment from Ulrich & Mr James - who is the most incredible person I've ever seen at work!

No spoilers - just watch it and you'll see for yourself. You couldn't make it up!

I rarely tend to review on here, and maybe I'll reflect on this review having posted during yet another moment of midweek lockdown malaise, but my initial reaction is that I can't recall ever watching a documentary with such a mixture of incredulity and respect for the 2 protagonists. Apart from them demonstrating serious cohones, the director has produced an important 2 hours, during which I sat mostly open mouthed.

Once again Mads Brügger demonstrates how reality beats fiction. I the beginning I found it too constructed, with a debriefing and the instructors voice over. But as the story unfolded, I have to agree that the narrated style worked well. Then I just watched in amazement and disbelief.

A inside look in Nort Korea's desperate attempts to make money on international drug and weapons deals. The lack of scrutiny on the part of the North Korean officials in verifying the identity of the mole and especially the actor makes it hard to believe this really happened. But it seem to be real events that we see unfolding judging on the endless amount of footage of the meetings and Brugger's history of documentary making. It's more thrumming than any Bond movie.

Easily the beat documentary, I've ever watched. Was tied to the screen though the whole thing - in pure disbelief.