[KS] Film screening: "The Schoolgirl's Diary" (Han Nyeohaksaengeui Ilgi)

Leonid Petrov petrov at coombs.anu.edu.au
Tue Apr 1 12:25:48 EDT 2008


"The Schoolgirl's Diary" (2006) is, indeed, the most interesting piece of
work recently produced by Pyongyang filmmakers. It looks like an attempt to
depict the growing conflict between selfishness and self-sacrifice in North
Korea. Echoing the Russian film *Courier* [Kurier] (1986), which hit the
records of popularity in the Perestroika-stricken Soviet Union, 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 (Jang In-hak or Kim Jong-il himself?).

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 Pyongyang? 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 USSR.



It looks like this film is trying to address the issues vital to North Korea's
survival. In the DPRK it was viewed by some 8 million people just in the
first six months. Pretty Pictures bought the screening rights to show it in
Europe 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.



Leonid Petrov
-- 
Division of Pacific and Asian History
Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies
Australian National University



On 02/04/2008, James Person <jfperson at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Film Screening: The Schoolgirl's Diary
> -With commentary from Suk-Young Kim,
> University of California at Santa Barbara
> ________________________________________
>
> 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.
>
> April 09, 2008 4:00 – 6:30pm
> 6th Floor Auditorium
> Woodrow Wilson Center
> One Woodrow Wilson Plaza
> 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
> Washington, DC 20004
>
> Visit www.wilsoncenter.org/nkidp for more information, and to RSVP
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
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