<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">"The Schoolgirl's Diary" (2006) is,
indeed, the most interesting piece of work </span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">recently produced by </span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Pyongyang</span><span style="" lang="EN-GB"> filmmakers. It looks like an attempt to depict the growing conflict
between selfishness and self-sacrifice in </span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">North Korea</span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">. Echoing the Russian film </span><i style=""><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Courier</span></i><span style="" lang="EN-GB"> [Kurier] (1986), which hit the records of popularity in the
Perestroika-stricken </span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Soviet Union</span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">, this film employs the convenient method of viewing the grim reality
of life through the eyes of a teenager. If something in the film is politically
unpalatable, it is the immaturity of the main character that has to be blamed –
not the film director (</span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Jang In-hak or Kim Jong-il himself?)<span style="">.</span></span><br></p><span style="" lang="EN-GB"></span> <br><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="" lang="EN-GB">The main character, Suryeon, gets increasingly frustrated with her poor
and naïve parents who "foolishly" devoted themselves to the country and the
people. Her protest may look unsophisticated but small details reveal political
overtones. In one scene, where Suryeon is arguing with her younger sister over
the quality of food in their lunchboxes, her blouse and skirt also show aggressive
colours – namely stars and stripes (just like on the US flag). Is this a new vogue
in modern </span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Pyongyang</span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">? Or maybe the director's tongue-in-cheek? Some people still argue that
it were blue jeans and rock music that destroyed socialism in the </span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">USSR</span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">It looks like this film is trying to address the issues vital to </span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">North Korea</span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">'s survival. In the DPRK i</span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">t
was v</span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">iewed by some 8 million people just in the first
six months. Pretty Pictures bought the screening rights to
show it in </span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Europe</span><span style="" lang="EN-GB"> last year. Who knows, maybe this film will open a new dimension of the
"Hallyu" phenomenon? It would be interesting to hear the opinion of those who have
seen it already</span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Leonid Petrov</span><br>-- <br>Division of Pacific and Asian History<br>Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies<br>Australian National University<br>
<span style="" lang="EN-GB"></span></p>
<br><br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 02/04/2008, <b class="gmail_sendername">James Person</b> <<a href="mailto:jfperson@hotmail.com">jfperson@hotmail.com</a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<div><div style="text-align: left;">Film Screening: The Schoolgirl's Diary<br>-With commentary from Suk-Young Kim,<br>University of California at Santa Barbara<br>________________________________________<br><br>The North Korea International Documentation Project invites you to attend a screening of the North Korean film "The Schoolgirl's Diary" (Han Nyeohaksaengeui Ilgi) followed by
commentary by Suk-Young Kim, assistant professor of theater and dance
at the University of California at Santa Barbara, and an expert on
North Korean propaganda.<br><br>April 09, 2008 4:00 – 6:30pm<br>6th Floor Auditorium<br>Woodrow Wilson Center<br>One Woodrow Wilson Plaza<br>1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW<br>Washington, DC 20004<br><br>Visit <a href="http://www.wilsoncenter.org/nkidp" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">www.wilsoncenter.org/nkidp</a> for more information, and to RSVP<br>
<br>The Schoolgirl's Diary (2006, in Korean, no subtitles) is the story of a self-absorbed North Korean teenager, Soo-Ryeon, who yearns to move to an apartment from her home in the countryside and questions the values of her father and mother, a scientist and a librarian at the academy of sciences who put the good of the nation before that of their family. Soo-Ryeon realizes how selfish she is only after her mother falls ill and her father makes a major breakthrough in his research. The film's screenwriters reportedly received guidance in drafting the script from North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.<br>
<br>Suk-Young Kim is assistant professor of theater and dance at the University of California at Santa Barbara. She is currently completing a book project titled Illusive Utopia: Theater, Film, and Everyday Performance in North Korea, which explores how state produced propaganda performances intersect with everyday life practice in North Korea. Another book project, Long Road Home: A Testimony of a North Korean Camp Survivor (coauthored with Kim Yong) is forthcoming from Columbia University Press.<br>
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