“We are all victims of propaganda… But the truth is, it’s hard to tell what is the truth, and I don’t think we’ll ever know,” is one of the lines towards the end of The Propaganda Game, a documentary from Spanish filmmaker Álvaro Longoria profiling an inside look from one of the most controversial countries in the world: North Korea. It’s fitting considering that it’s applicable to this film itself: just what is fact and fiction. Guided by North Korea’s foreign officer Alejandro, the film documents Longoria’s week-long stay inside the walls of Pyongyang as he tries to highlight the propaganda wars being embarked upon both within the country’s borders and on the international stage – with the country’s infamous status and secrecy garnering it a bad reputation, surrounded by lots of hate and anxiety.
The film is engrossing from the off and the way in which Longoria presents both sides of the argument here – the fallacy behind North Korea but also the life inside the walls and their view of the outside world – is utterly fascinating and interesting; he manages to present the sides whilst remaining neutral himself. At the same time though, the film gets a little jumbled in just what it’s trying to convey to the audience. At times, Longoria depicts North Korea in a bad light – quite clearly spoon-fed lies about the U.S and showing a lot of aggression, armed to the teeth with nuclear warheads with no disregard for anyone – but then we also see more hostile images of people ice-skating and enjoying festivities.
The director is seemingly too passive in his approach which makes the narrative all the more convoluted, with Álvaro mentioning that it all seems a little too “superficial” (it’s alluded to that a Christian mass ceremony has been set-up to show DPRK – Democratic People’s Republic of Korea – off in good light and there’s a public museum suspiciously empty on a Sunday when Longoria goes to film) yet he also mentions that he believes life in DPRK isn’t as the world pictures it, confessing that even he might believe the propaganda.
There’s a lack of attachment to The Propaganda Game as we see interviews from those against North Korea – a barrage of facts and news headlines outing their despicable state ensues – and those in favour of it – trying to debunk the aforementioned lies the West have conjured up. What makes it so confusing though is that the pro-DPRK views are from citizens themselves and, as some profound imagery shows us, we see little children being brainwashed from such a young age – singing praises about Kim Jong-un as their “saviour” and “father” – and this continuing all through their lives – Alejandro teaches a group of older students that DPRK is “the centre of the world”.
The facts are interesting but the film lacks that substance and depth to truly make it memorable; too afraid to delve into just what the truth is, unable to find out what’s going on beneath the smiles and the all too contrived nature of the country. With all the security and strict regulations established for Longoria’s visit and all the history and mystery behind North Korea, we have the possibility to really get an unprecedented, compelling angle into what’s going on but Álvaro merely scratches the surface – if even that. So, despite being a competent and interesting documentary for what it is, you can’t help but feel there’s more potential for this than just a game of tossing arguments for and against back and forth and ultimately being fairly inconsequential in the end.
As a film, The Propaganda Game is well-directed and very informative for those wanting a bit of information on North Korea and an inside look at Pyongyang. The facts are there and Longoria is well-intentioned. The cinematography is crisp and the quality of the material and the archived footage is good but it lacks the oomph necessary for such a topic of discussion. It’s enjoyable but, as a result of the missing elements, can get fairly dull and tedious at times.
The Propaganda Game is available to stream and buy on DVD from May 16th.
