They Met on the Taedong River: An Educated Public

I have a friend who visibly recoils whenever I mention seeing a North Korean film for this blog. I suspect she sees my covering such movies as tacit endorsement of fascist politics — clearly she hasn't read the reviews as I'm hardly a bully pulpit for Kim Jong-il. But while I won't deny the merciless fanaticism of the hermit nation's dictatorial government, I'm also aware that, during my lifetime, no country has done more harm to the planet itself than the U.S.A. so there's something perverse about pointing a finger at Pyongyang while sipping soda through a plastic straw in a plastic bottle then shrugging indifferently as profit-driven corporations bottle up natural resources for pennies. One can be critical in both directions.

How is this relevant to Kim Kil-in's They Met on the Taedong River, a preachy North Korean romance in which two couples — one old, one young — must overcome various obstacles before they can marry their chosen ones? Well, it's a film that understands that class bias must be combatted for change to happen, and that youth are the future so their needs should be prioritized. A cooperative spirit informs the action throughout They Met on the Taedong River — which plot-wise is admittedly contrived and unconvincing. Say what you want about its simplicity, the movie at least has a higher goal than mere entertainment. I'll be the first to argue in favor of art that searches for something deep over propaganda but They Met on the Taedong River is a schmaltzy reminder that overall the American cinema is dishearteningly escapist at a time when so many important issues need to be addressed.

I too laugh at the decor, the fake performances, the outdated camerawork, the too-tidy endings. But I am equally skeptical that Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen or Star Wars: The Phantom Menace are inherently better simply because they have big budgets and impressive receipts.