I can't help but feel melancholy when I see someone scolding the director in the comments. Isn't it funny that the trolls are slandering the director in a sympathetic way?
The fable "The Emperor's New Clothes": When the emperor walked down the street naked, everyone cheered and praised the beauty of the clothes, although the truth was not so. why? Just because of fear. Everyone was afraid of being considered stupid, and even more afraid of being retaliated for exposing the emperor's stupidity in public. Until a child, an ignorant and fearless child, revealed a piece of the truth, thus ending a deception.
In this film, the emperor is the ruler of North Korea, Xinyi is a "prosperous, happy, people living and working in North Korea", and the child is the director of the film, Vitaly Mansky.
First of all, get the basic facts straight: the film was planned by the North Korean government and co-produced with Russia, and Vitaly was the director chosen by North Korea because he is good at making documentaries related to human rights. The North Korean government's wishful thinking is to use Vitaly's international influence and North Korea's documentary censorship to create works that will help promote a "progressive, loyal, and harmonious" North Korea in terms of human rights.
Why did the director make this documentary?
A name? Director Vitaly himself is a well-known documentary director, so he was selected by North Korea. There are so many documentaries, why should the director risk himself?
Two for profit? This isn't a Hollywood blockbuster that can make money at the box office, the film has only been shown publicly at the Tallinn Black Night Film Festival. It is a question of whether there is enough film money in the relevant distribution. The North Korean government will definitely not pay the director's remuneration. This is a documentary that is guaranteed to lose money.
Director for what? Just for conscience. Mansky, who was born in Soviet-era Russia in 1963, said he decided to make the documentary because he wanted to "get a better understanding of Russia's past".
What's the meaning? From the beginning of Ivan the Terrible to the founding of the modern leader worship, Stalin's Great Purge, Khrushchev's armed suppression, etc. are all painful strokes in Russian history. The leader worship of the Soviet Union has also directly affected Khmer, China, and North Korea. Which one has never been corpse all over the place?
From the perspective of civilians, the director reveals the absurd, deformed, and terrifying North Korea under the modern dictatorship.
The parable does not tell us what happened to the emperor's child. What will happen to the staff, including the director, if they are caught secretly filming behind-the-scenes footage in North Korea? The gun is by no means unlikely, and it will not be long for 10 years. After returning home, director Vitaly received a direct threat from the North Korean government, and then look at the assassination of Li Hanying, Huang Changye and all North Korean defectors by North Korean agents. Is it safe to stay abroad? Cross-border assassinations abound, why can't North Korea kill people in Russia?
As for the survival of North Korean actors, it may be more optimistic than some people think. The government personnel in charge of supervision will definitely be punished, but they are members of Kim Jong-un's propaganda machine. As for the little girl's family, they just acted according to orders and performed as required. The North Korean government should not be too embarrassed for them. I have a reasonable idea: North Korea may treat and reuse the little girl preferentially, wait for her to show her face in public when she grows up, make up a reason to explain the situation in the documentary, and then proudly say: "Under the leadership of General Kim, I I have finally grown into a member of the great Juche-idea Korea.” It can also be regarded as saving face for the North Korean government. Of course, the premise is that the Kim regime is still there on that day.
We must learn to be courageous. If we are afraid that we and others will be hurt, we will hold back, abandon the truth, and stay in a corner, just like the people next to the emperor. So who will change the world? Without those brave warriors who take risks and march against the current, there will never be a day when the clouds and the sun will come to light.
Thanks to director Vitaly Mansky, you are a true warrior. There will be no documentaries like "Under the Sun" from now on, and there's no need at all, right? This unprecedented documentary will leave traces in human history and record the bizarre and bizarre nature of North Korean society during this special period. Hope you are well and don't get assassinated :-D, keep focusing on human rights and expose the reality. I hope the North Korean people can be truly free. As you said, the day when "the North Koreans treat this documentary as a joke" will come soon.
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