Oscar can come calling Beyond utopia (now streaming on Hulu), director Madeleine Gavin’s documentary about North Koreans trying to escape the unbridled oppression of a totalitarian regime that isolates its citizens from the rest of the world to maintain control. Aside from the film’s obvious humanitarian angle, part of its presentation to potential audiences is how it reminds us of the terrible living conditions North Koreans endure under “supreme leader” Kim Jong Un, and how it is eye-opening in some of its details. Gavin teams up a Spartan team with a family of deserters as they embark on a treacherous journey through hostile environments (there are no “reenactments” in the film, according to the title) and the result is intense, suspenseful and vital. .
BEYOND UTOPIA: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
The essence: Hyukchang successfully defected from North Korea and now wants to help his mother and brother’s family do the same. Consider this terrible and potentially deadly journey: You can’t cross into South Korea: the border is littered with two million landmines. Instead, you have to cross the Yalu River into China, avoiding North Korean border guards, who receive bonuses for killing defectors, and Chinese police, who hand fugitives over to North Korean authorities or traffic them for trafficking. sex trade. If you avoid all that, you’ll face a grueling trek through the mountains, which is especially difficult for Hyukchang’s family, since her mother is 80 years old and her nieces are still quite young. You’ll pay shady middlemen to guide you through difficult terrain using some of the same routes as drug smugglers; Sometimes you will have to bribe the police. The middlemen will take you through China for illegal night crossings to Vietnam and then to Laos (both countries allied with North Korea) and finally to safety in politically friendly Thailand. It is arduous and seems almost impossible.
But Pastor Kim Sungeun has done this before, many times. The former North Korean, who now lives in Seoul, formed an “underground railway” for people like Hyukchang’s family, and estimates he has helped rescue 1,000 people in the 10 years before the Covid pandemic. (This documentary mostly takes place before the pandemic, which prompted such extreme security measures in China that the system was practically shut down.) Pastor Kim ignores his own health problems and travels frequently to China to help guide refugees through the network he established. Once, while he was away, his sick son died, which only reinforced his commitment to helping others. “In Christian terms, my son was the grain of wheat,” he says, his voice breaking with pain.
Most Beyond utopia Follow Pastor Kim as he helps the family on their long and dangerous journey. She also introduces Soyeon, a defector in Seoul who is doing everything she can to get her son out of North Korea; She employs blind faith as she trades over the phone with brokers, sends them money, and learns that her son was captured in China and tortured by North Korean border guards. In between these two accounts of escape attempts, the film offers a history lesson that provides context to illuminate why North Koreans would risk so much to leave their home country: the rise of current leader Kim Jong Un and his predecessors, the terrible living conditions, authoritarianism and the government’s ruthless brainwashing of the citizenry, who are unaware of any information from the outside world and therefore have no reason to believe that North Korea is not a utopia ruled by pine leaders.
What movies will it remind you of?: Beyond utopia remember the exciting real work of Land of posters, which places the viewer in the middle of the war on drugs in Mexico. Also, The rescueThe essential documentary about the rescue of a men’s soccer team from a flooded cave system in Thailand features re-enactments, but is equally tense and dramatic in its depiction of a real-life life-or-death scenario.
Performance worth seeing: Our hearts completely break for Soyeon; our hearts cannot help but root with all their might for the well-being of the Roh family; Our hearts go out to Pastor Kim for his selfless efforts.
Memorable dialogue: Hyukchang’s nieces are asked what they think of Kim Jong Un, and this is their response: “He is the greatest person in the world.”
Sex and skin: None.
Our opinion: Beyond utopia has faced some criticism for its somewhat simplistic handling of historical context, which ignores the role of US sanctions in perpetuating the poverty and suffering of North Korean citizens. Duly noted; It’s a valid point. But as it stands, it is a gripping and important documentary that emphasizes its central human stories and emotional impact. Gavin doesn’t always evenly balance the film’s narrative threads, and it’s a bit uneven, veering occasionally into talking history lessons that are insightful and necessary, but contrast greatly with the raw tension of the handheld cameras (I think part of the film was filmed with smartphones) that capture the dangerous and tedious journeys of Hyukchang’s family.
However, the power of that footage cannot be underestimated. Children climb on the backs of adults as they walk through tangled mountain trails, guided by runners who at one point seem to lead them in circles in the dark night in an attempt to get more money from them. Meanwhile, Pastor Kim joins the family at great personal risk (his health is a concern and his good works have put him at risk of arrest in several countries) as he guides them to safety. . This component of Beyond utopia It feels like humanitarian journalism in its purest form, contributing to a damning portrait of authoritarianism and inspiring human perseverance.
Our call: Beyond utopia is undoubtedly one of the best documentaries of 2023. STREAM IT.
John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic living in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
