Comrade Kim Goes Flying
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Film poster
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| Directed by | Kim Gwang Hun Nicholas Bonner Anja Daelemans |
| Produced by | Anja Daelemans Nicholas Bonner Ryom Mi Hwa |
| Written by | Sin Myong Sik Kim Chol |
| Starring | Han Jong Sim Pak Chung Guk |
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Release dates
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| Country |  United Kingdom Belgium North Korea |
| Language | Korean |
Comrade Kim Goes Flying is a 2012 joint British-Belgian-North Korean romantic comedy feature film,[1] set and filmed in Pyongyang, North Korea.[2]
Synopsis
"Comrade Kim Yong Mi is a North Korean coal miner. Her dream of becoming a trapeze artist is crushed by the arrogant trapeze star Pak Jang Phil, who believes miners belong underground and not in the air".[3] Co-director Nicholas Bonner described it as a "girl-power fairy tale about dreaming to fly", adding that his hope was "for Korean audiences to see the film on both sides of the border and be entertained".[1] The three producers reportedly "steered [the North Korean writers] toward comedy and away from the more predictable propaganda line of triumph through hard work".[1] The programmer for Toronto described the film in these terms: "A winning, life-affirming fable about a young coal miner’s pursuit of her dream to become an acrobat, Comrade Kim Goes Flying marks a milestone in film history: it is the first Western-financed fiction feature made entirely in North Korea".[4]
Cast
The film is directed by Kim Gwang Hun, Nicholas Bonner and Anja Daelemans; produced by Anja Daelemans, Nicholas Bonner and Ryom Mi Hwa; and written by Sin Myong Sik and Kim Chol.[5][3]
The main cast is as follows:[5]
- Han Jong Sim as Kim Yong Mi ("Comrade Kim")
- Pak Chung Guk as Pak Jang Phil
- Ri Yong Ho as Commander Sok Gun
- Kim Son Nam as Yong Mi’s father
- Ri Ik Sung as the coal mine manager
- Kim Un Yong as Ri Su Hyon (trapeze artist)
- Han Kil Myong as Yong Mi’s Grandmother
- An Chang Sun as Jang Phil’s mother
Production
It is a coproduction between Belgian production company Another Dimension of an Idea, the Korea Film Export & Import Corporation, and British travel company Koryo Group.[5][3] It is the fourth film produced by Koryo Group in cooperation with North Korea. The previous three films The Game of Their Lives (2002), A State of Mind (2004) and Crossing the Line (2006) were documentaries. Comrade Kim Goes Flying was shot in Pyongyang, with a North Korean cast and crew.[2]
Reception
Comrade Kim goes Flying premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2012.[5] The film also showed at the 2012 Pyongyang International Film Festival.[2][6] In October, it was shown at the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea.[7] In March 2013 it played in the United States, with the Wall Street Journal calling it a "feel-good style of a Doris Day-Rock Hudson picture".[8]
Reviewing the film for Variety, Jay Weissberg wrote: "“Comrade Kim Goes Flying” proves that cooperation with the West really is possible, at least in cinema. A candy-hued throwback to a chirpy Technicolor time when pluck wins out and “postmodern” wasn’t yet invented, this “let’s put on a show!” tale of a young woman miner’s dream of becoming an acrobat has been winning hearts since preeming at Toronto".[9]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Filming a North Korean Dream", New York Times, 30 July 2012
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Koryo Quarterly newsletter, August 2008
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Comrade Kim Goes Flying", Toronto Film Festival
- ↑ Films and schedules, Toronto International FIlm Festival
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ "News and Media", Pyongyang International Film Festival, 22 March 2012
- ↑ "Le camarade Kim, invité posthume du Festival de Busan", Le Monde, 12 October 2012
- ↑ Romantic North Korea March 20, 2013 Wall Street Journal
- ↑ "Film Review: ‘Comrade Kim Goes Flying’", Variety, 9 March 2013
