North Korean-Belgian-UK co-productions are a rare thing in today’s world. North Korea’s state-controlled film industry does not often partner up with foreign producers to make the films that are screened across the country for local audiences each year. But it does happen occasionally: examples include the North Korean-Japanese co-production Somi – The Taekwondo Woman (1997) and North Korean-Chinese co-production The Secret of Rikidozan (2005). Comrade Kim Goes Flying is a somewhat unique case. Nicholas Bonner, originally from the UK, has been living in Beijing since 1993, running Koryo Group which organizes various kinds of cultural exchanges with North Korea. In recent years he has partnered with director Daniel Gordon to shoot a series of acclaimed documentaries in North Korea, including The Game of Their Lives (2002), A State of Mind (2004), and Crossing the Line (2006). These works have become well-known in North Korea, as well as internationally.
The idea for Comrade Kim Goes Flying was developed by Bonner and Belgian producer Anja Daelemans in 2006, and was originally conceived as a short film. After sharing the idea with North Korean producer Ryom Mi-hwa, with whom Bonner had collaborated on his documentaries, two North Korean screenwriters began working on a script.
Although the story was originally rejected by the state-run film studios as “too unrealistic,” Ryom was eventually able to get the film approved after numerous rewrites and after receiving the support of established director Kim Gwang-hun. The film was shot with three directors, and two acrobats from the Pyongyang Circus in the lead roles. It then underwent postproduction in Belgium, giving it a glossy sheen that ordinary North Korean films lack.
The story centers around Kim Yong-mi, a young woman from the provinces who works in a coal mine, but who dreams of becoming a trapeze artist. When she is given a year-long assignment to work on a construction project in Pyongyang, she steals off to the Pyongyang Circus and manages to meet her childhood hero, the famous trapeze artist Ri Su-yon. Ri encourages her to audition for the Circus, but without any previous training, she humiliates herself. The arrogant trapeze star Pak Jang-phil mocks her, telling her that coal miners belong underground, not in the air. But Yong-mi is not one to give up easily.
Comrade Kim Goes Flying provides a memorable viewing experience. The film contains an inside look at North Korea which certainly does not reflect the realistic, everyday experiences of its citizens, but which is fascinating nonetheless. Lead actress Han Jong-sim, who had no acting experience prior to taking this role, has an upbeat charisma that is infectious. As a film, it is genuinely entertaining. It is unlike most North Korean films in being centered around a single female protagonist whose dreams and ambitions are essentially personal. But in other respects, its North Korean screenwriters have given it a distinctly local feel.
Two difficult questions leap to mind while watching this film. The first is, is it “authentic?” In style it is not quite North Korean, and not quite Western. I couldn’t help but ask myself if the film’s kitschy charm was directed primarily at a North Korean or a Western audience. But perhaps for this uniquely positioned work, we should take Bonner’s word that it is intended for both audiences, and particularly for ordinary North Koreans. The second question is, is it propaganda? In terms of its explicit content, the answer is no. At face value, it is a story of one woman’s individual triumph. One might ask if the bright colors and the rosy view of North Korean life function as a kind of indirect, subliminal propaganda. (Though I think anyone asking this question should acknowledge that production companies and advertising agencies in the West are much more skilled at this sort of “subliminal propaganda” than North Korean film studios ever will be.) Does Comrade Kim Goes Flying provide moral support to a dictatorial, highly oppressive regime? This may sound evasive, but I really do believe that viewers should watch this film and decide for themselves.