Michael Palin in North Korea

[Bad Ambassador]

I'll tell you all about it if you ask.

Nah, that's fine.

[popcorn]

Nah, that's fine.

Not you.

[sprocket]

The macho way you dealt with that has left me hanging on your every word. Please go on.

[Ferris]

Not you.

I'm on the fence about it. How good would say the story was (out of 10)?

[gilbertharding]

I'm sure I remember Andy Kershaw went and made a bit of a film in N Korea ages ago. I wonder if that's true, and if so, is it on the internet...

[jobotic]

https://www.my5.tv/michael-palin-in-north-korea/season-1/episode-1

Seems to work ok.

Thank you. You know I might have been able to find that myself!

[jobotic]

I'm sure I remember Andy Kershaw went and made a bit of a film in N Korea ages ago. I wonder if that's true, and if so, is it on the internet...

Does ring a bell.

Ah https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqWO8uPEnp8

[thraxx]

I'm sure I remember Andy Kershaw went and made a bit of a film in N Korea ages ago. I wonder if that's true, and if so, is it on the internet...

A shame he couldn't rock out an impromptu version of Wouldn't It Be Good, causing the North Koreans to throw of their mental and social chains in a reaction that brought down the totalitarian state.

[Zetetic]

Bit tired of the intros to these thing wanging on about the "hermit kingdom" and "unprecedented access" for the hundredth time. They're not alien fuckwits, and that cuts more ways than one.

(By contrast, I've found Palin's explicit reflections on the practicality of the filming, quite a useful grounding.)

[popcorn]

I'm on the fence about it. How good would say the story was (out of 10)?

7.

[Ferris]

7.

Ok that sounds alright - fill us in.

[Ferris]

Watched both episodes - fascinating but not sure it is breaking new ground.

Pyongyang is almost as good as Rostov circa 1970, the state puts on lots of self-defeating "don't worry this place is fully staffed"/"we have loads of food mate", Palin is very likeable.

I don't know what this docco is saying. I enjoyed it, but it did feel a bit overly positive. No mention of the execution of political prisoners or why everyone was so bloody terrified that they stuck to the script. Interesting but weird.

[popcorn]

Yes, I felt similarly. On the one hand it's good that Palin is at pains to humanise the citizens of North Korea and show them as, surprise surprise, people who like a beer and a barbecue and a boogie from time to time. And perhaps it is too easy for North Korea to become a completely inhospitable wasteland in the western mind, with no notion of the spectacular scenery, the wonderful cuisine, the ordinary business of getting a train to work, etc.

But his final monologue is pretty much "ah, it didn't seem so grim". And of course it didn't, you were chaperoned the whole time.  What about the death camps, mate.

[popcorn]

Went to the Korean DMZ a few weeks ago. Here's the story for those who fancy it. (Just posted this, so if you spot any typos or weird things or shite writing please poke me.)

[Sin Agog]

I feel a bit bad for that male tour guide/keeper at the end when Mike is saying his goodbyes.  He mumbles something about good luck becoming an actor to him, then gives the lady the most effulgent hug and array of well-wishes.  Poor male tour guide/keeper! :(

[notjosh]

I feel a bit bad for that male tour guide/keeper at the end when Mike is saying his goodbyes.  He mumbles something about good luck becoming an actor to him, then gives the lady the most effulgent hug and array of well-wishes.  Poor male tour guide/keeper! :(

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2oko7m

[the science eel]

I feel a bit bad for that male tour guide/keeper at the end when Mike is saying his goodbyes.  He mumbles something about good luck becoming an actor to him, then gives the lady the most effulgent hug and array of well-wishes.  Poor male tour guide/keeper! :(

Palin and the woman spent a bit more time together, at least that's how it looked. You remember them sitting on that rock talking about respect for leaders? Those sorts of moments, I suppose, can bring people closer together. Although MP was a bit woolly and non-committal.

Both guides came across as really lovely people, didn't they?

[Ferris]

Palin and the woman spent a bit more time together, at least that's how it looked. You remember them sitting on that rock talking about respect for leaders? Those sorts of moments, I suppose, can bring people closer together. Although MP was a bit woolly and non-committal.

Both guides came across as really lovely people, didn't they?

He did quickly mention they kept his passport at the border (and I'm sure they didn't do anything nefarious with it...) so that probably helps you to keep non-judgemental, lest you never leave.

[popcorn]

Went to the Korean DMZ a few weeks ago. Here's the story for those who fancy it. (Just posted this, so if you spot any typos or weird things or shite writing please poke me.)

A kind soul has DM'd me to point out that this is the wrong link, I am thick. Here is the correct link: https://allrightgoggles.com/2018/09/29/in-front-of-them-all/

[Alberon]

Just saw the second episode.

Again, he alludes to the tightly choreographed nature of his visit. He does give the impression throughout the whole episode, as well as saying at the end, that he knows he's not getting anywhere near the whole story. He blatantly states - on voiceover - that the farmer visit is probably mostly a sham. The way she clammed up at the slightest mention of the famine that killed a million people is typical. His noticing that the nice hotels he stays at are almost completely unused. The halting conversation with his handler about the difference in leaders in NK and the UK is probably as far as he could go without being shutdown.

But the documentary, if it had a main point, was with Palin and small moments of connection with real people. The farmer's son with his English, even with one of his handlers. It's not a revelation that the North Koreans are mostly normal people too rather than swivel-eyed cultists, but it is nice to see now and then.

[Pranet]

Not an original thought but he really was a handsome man in his day. Found this just now looking for the fish slapping dance on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17_UQTi-8xU

[Pranet]

Just saw the second episode.

Again, he alludes to the tightly choreographed nature of his visit. He does give the impression throughout the whole episode, as well as saying at the end, that he knows he's not getting anywhere near the whole story. He blatantly states - on voiceover - that the farmer visit is probably mostly a sham. The way she clammed up at the slightest mention of the famine that killed a million people is typical. His noticing that the nice hotels he stays at are almost completely unused. The halting conversation with his handler about the difference in leaders in NK and the UK is probably as far as he could go without being shutdown.

But the documentary, if it had a main point, was with Palin and small moments of connection with real people. The farmer's son with his English, even with one of his handlers. It's not a revelation that the North Koreans are mostly normal people too rather than swivel-eyed cultists, but it is nice to see now and then.

And also he won't want the handlers etc to get in the shit.

[c]

And also he won't want the handlers etc to get in the shit.

I think this is the main point - his handlers could suffer the worst of consequences and also the company who spent two years organising and negotiating the trip, Koryo, I think are the only one allowed to run tours for westerners. If he was too political, it would be the end of them (their business, that is. They wouldn't be joining Song Yan* in Camp 22)

Amazed this was on C5. Remember when the BBC were good?

*Was it in my head or did I detect, in Palin, the faintest whiff of a whistful old man crush on her?

[the science eel]

'faintest whiff'? she got a big hug and farewell at the airport while the other guide was left standing!

[c]

'faintest whiff'? she got a big hug and farewell at the airport while the other guide was left standing!

Knew it.

It's sad, getting old

[Crisps?]

^ "You've made an old man very happy". Even from the nicest man in the world, a bit creepy sounding. He seemed to be basically writing the other guy off as insincere, so maybe he was from North Korea's secret police. But if he was, she probably was.

not sure it is breaking new ground. [...] No mention of the execution of political prisoners or why everyone was so bloody terrified that they stuck to the script.

Not sure how it's breaking new ground to repeat the only things we ever hear about North Korea. The programme was full of 'North Korea is a brutal dictatorship'/'people are terrified to speak up' stuff (presumably to sell it to the Americans), despite it supposedly going "beyond the politics".

So because in great Great Britain you can be rude about anything, unlike those North Korean local authorities that banned Life of Brian, we didn't hear from So Yang about her life or hopes or ambitions or favourite places in her country or thoughts on reunification, because they had to shoehorn in yet more boring discussion about the leadership, even if that meant consigning her to a salt mine.

Her response that the founding fathers of North Korea represent the people and the country is if course no more brainwashed than the way people in Free Britain think about Churchill or the Royal Family or people in Free America think about God or the racists they carved into a mountainside (the kind of cult of personality nonsense we'd rightly attack if it came from North Korea).

Meanwhile Palin's petty arguing about who won the war, with the North Korean army guy stereotyped as "rather intimidating" despite being rather polite and friendly, just showed up British indoctrination and arrogance.

They didn't help to destroy our entire country and kill one in five British people, we did that to them to defend a brutal mass murdering dictatorship, and we developed nukes before we ended rationing, so maybe we aren't the best people to go to their country to tell them what's up.

What about the death camps, mate.

When you watch a travel show about the delights of Stonehenge, the Lake District and Big Ben do you think, eh, what, hold on a minute mate, what the Iraq war, food banks, child poverty and the state of the NHS?

[c]

I too think it's ever so dull, this obligation we feel to signal that We Do Not Approve. Lord knows the North Korean regime is an abhorrent one in so many ways - but so does everyone else. Tell us something we don't know. Tell us something interesting. Be funny. Bickering mildly with tour guides is not TV gold.

That was the worst of it but I loved all the rest. That airport was incredible - almost Kubrickian.

[Crisps?]

Yeah, politics aside I thought it was excellent. I was surprised and disappointed when he said his time was almost up, since I expected and would have loved to have seen more episodes.

[Malcy]

Watched both of these today. Really enjoyed it. It really does have some beautiful locations. I'd visit for a holiday. Anyone else?

[the science eel]

Watched both of these today. Really enjoyed it. It really does have some beautiful locations. I'd visit for a holiday. Anyone else?

Hell yeah. Altho' you're not supposed to say that (holiday in other people's misery and all that).