The Propaganda Game (2015)

• Year: 2015
• Released: 30 Oct 2015
• Country: Spain, France
• Adwords: 1 win & 3 nominations
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4206218/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_propaganda_game
• Metacritics:
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: Spanish, Korean, English
• MPA Rating: N/A
• Genre: Documentary
• Runtime: 98 min
• Writer: Álvaro Longoria
• Director: Álvaro Longoria
• Cast: Álvaro Longoria, Simon Cockerell, Kang Hyoin Gyu
• Keywords: dictator, north korea, inter-korean relations, pyongyang, north korea,

6.8/10

The Propaganda Game Storyline

North Korea, formerly known as the hermit kingdom, is perhaps the largest source of instability as regards world peace. Its border is one of the most militarized in the world. The lack of impartial information, both inside and coming out of the country, is the perfect setting for a propaganda war, which will be analyzed in the film through numerous examples of the surprising way in which information is manipulated, in and about North Korea. Alejandro Cao de Benos, the sole foreigner who works for the DPRK Government, and many locals will show us their vision of the reality in North Korea. The other side of the story will be reflected through interviews to South Korean citizens, human rights advocates, diplomats, propaganda experts, etc.

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The Propaganda Game Movie Reviews

Leaves you hanging in a good way.

Let’s put this out of the way – everyone knows that an organised tour of the DPRK is one massive facade. For a filmmaker to gain entry and keep that much footage, the film absolutely had to showcase happy citizens, sprawling buildings and new technology. How could you expect anything else?

What makes this film brilliant is what he did with the footage.

Aptly named “The Propaganda Game”, director Álvaro Longoria takes us with him on tour of North Korea’s capital Pyongyang. What I really enjoyed about this film is its rawness – You get to see everything from Longoria’s eyes and decide for yourself what is real and what is not. It felt like a very personal experience. The deception of the State and its effects on its people are nothing short of terrifying. How could they act so naturally if everything is staged? Could it be real? Are they really so brainwashed? Are these people suffering? How?

I think some people who have seen it are confused, judging from some other reviews. I urge you to see this film without searching for concrete answers. Longoria presents many opposing arguments but there really is no telling the extent of North Korea’s deception or on the flip side, the warping of information in Western media (I mean, The Guardian is pretty ridiculous.) I suspect Longoria himself does not know what to make of it. You simply can’t find that kind of information on North Korea; experts themselves do not have the full truth nor do they all agree with each other. Such is social science. There is simply too little information, and the film captures that wonderfully. Speculating would be unwise.

The film leaves you rather unsettled, but I believe that was the intended effect. How could we be comfortable when a system as oppressive as the DPRK’s is still surviving to this day? Its message, if there must be one, is that the people of North Korea are suffering – and that instead of looking at them as ignorant fools living in a joke of a nation, we should be sympathising with them and condemning such cruelty.

It is a film that focuses on the people, and is a much needed take on the subject amongst all the hoo-ha surrounding North Korea.

The message seems to be…’what is the truth?’.

In recent years, a few documentary makers have entered the otherwise closed country of North Korea–some of which covertly filmed the land and its people. All of the films like these that I’ve seen have been rather critical of the repressive North Korean regime and its human rights violations, but this new film is a bit different. While it features some interviews with folks who are very critical of North Korea, it also allows the North Korean propaganda machine ample time to present its well-scripted case that their land is a sort of nirvana and that they must maintain their military might and readiness to protect itself from capitalism and democratization. It’s a bit of a confusing film, mostly because you see happy and well-fed North Koreans. But, it must be remembered that the Spanish film crew was led around with government officials and they simply couldn’t go where they wanted. In particular, the strange ex- Spaniard and North Korean government official Alejandro Cao de Benós takes the crew about the country and there is no freedom of movement for the filmmakers. So, when they ask about concentration camps and starvation, you never really get to see much of the country other than a couple brief and scripted trip to the countryside and insistence from Benós that such places don’t exist. Instead, you see almost exclusively views of the capital, Pyongyang and with loyal North Koreans who seem like model citizens. Overall, the effect is very strange. On one hand, the country looks nice and clean and BIG….but on the other, much of it also seems fake (such as the odd church service they attended). Worth seeing but I am really not that sure what the message is or what most folks will take from the film other than confusion. Because of this, I would recommend you see other films to get a more complete view of the state of the country and its people, such as “A State of Mind”, “Crossing the Line” as well as “Seoul Train”.

The Propaganda Game: Heartbreaking, thought provoking viewing

With all the ongoing debacles with North Korea in the news I figured this would be a fantastic time to watch The Propaganda Game.

A Spanish made documentary with very impressive and rare access to the country it pulls back the curtain (Or at least as far back as the officials would let it go) and shows both sides of this remarkable place.

The trouble is that both the west and North Korea seem to be playing the The Propaganda Game and it’s extremely hard to know what is true and what isn’t. My personal opinion is that it’s a combination of both, but this documentary is quite unbias and gives you a chance to decide for yourself.

US government, the Korean government, ultimately the real victims in this appear to be the citizens of Korea themselves as I find their chosen lifestyle monstrous but again how much of it is true and how much is staged? The Propaganda Game is well worth a watch and though heartbreaking it is very eye opening and a fantastic piece of documentary film making.

Always wondered why Korea didn’t kick off over Team America World Police (2004) but did regarding The Interview (2014). Perhaps a leader with less sense of humour explains it?