"Kimjonilia" is a documentary about life in North Korea during the last couple decades. It has no narration but instead consists of interviews with various folks who have escaped the country and are now telling their stories. The stories involve mass prison camps, torture, executions, starvation and total repression. Their eyewitness accounts are very compelling and sad---and they can't help but break your hearts. In between, you also have various clips of North Korean propaganda TV shows and massive highly choreographed dances all designed to sign the praises of their 'glorious leader'--Kim Jong-Il.
This was an odd documentary. Although the content was fantastically compelling, the artistic style was just awful. I just don't get it and all the 'artsy' stuff distracted from the very powerful message. You see, throughout the film, there are many scenes of a woman dressed in a North Korean uniform doing bizarre interpretive dances! So, you have heart-wrenching story after heart-wrenching story of privation and murder...and then this weird dancing! Additionally, several times during the film, characters were shown in the weirdest sort of close-ups--a person's left eye or nose or any other part of the face was shown up very, very close. Perhaps this was an odd way to show a person without showing the whole face in order to protect their identity but surely there must have been a better way to do this! Overall, a very compelling message and a film well worth seeing--despite some silly artistic decisions.
