“Do you know what the Commander-in-Chief said? A soldier’s basic duty is to devote his youth to the fatherland and to be loyal to the mother party that gave birth to us. He took the oath of allegiance and put on the uniform. But the military has shown that those who live by their commander-in-chief cannot survive here, or even survive. Loyalty? The only thing that earns loyalty is to be taken to a clinic and medically discharged. And then there are guys like this guy who just happen to come from the right family and can get high and drunk in the middle of the day…”
This monologue is at the heart of Two Soldiers, a newly released film made by North Korean defectors that was released on January 21 (watch it with English subtitles here). This ironic speech is given by Lee Kwang-hyuk, a young soldier who is the son of a farmer, but his low social status prevents him from realizing his dream of becoming a soldier or a national security official. In contrast, his fellow soldier Park Jin-cheol is the nephew of a military political officer and uses his privileges to carry around a laptop and cell phone while serving in the military, brazenly drinking whiskey.
As the title suggests, “Two Soldiers” compares the lives of these two soldiers and explores how North Korea’s hereditary social class system fosters discrimination, and how the elite class is at the expense of the common man. It highlights how they are profiting from it.
“North Korea is thoroughly class based society. North Korea claims that all North Koreans are equal “masters of the country,” but without power, no matter how hard they try, they cannot escape from the situation. North Korea claims to be a country of the people and for the people, but in reality it is a country where those in power profit at the expense of the people. That’s what I wanted to convey through this film. ”
“Two Soldiers” is director Jung Ha-neul’s first film and incorporates his own experiences. Mr. Jeong was born in Hamheung City, North Hamgyong Province. joined the military as an enlisted manAfter graduating from high school.heHe was deployed to the front lines and then escaped during a patrol mission. Chung established the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) in South Korea in 2012. The assault and starvation suffered in the military Not only are they increasingly disillusioned with North Korea’s discriminatory social system;He decided to go into exile.
Mr. Jeong currently runs a YouTube channel called “Bukshitar TV” with over 80,000 subscribers, and has produced content related to his time in the North Korean military and shed light on the dark side of North Korean society. Ta. This time, we asked the director why he took on the challenge of making a film, the deep meaning of his work, and behind-the-scenes stories behind the production.
Below is the full interview with director Jung Ha-neul by Daily NK.
Daily NK: You have appeared many times on YouTube and on various TV shows to talk about military life and culture in North Korea. Was there any particular reason why you decided to make this into a movie?
“[A while back] I appeared on a film call.“Escape” [탈주],” The book, scheduled to be published in July this year, will touch on military life in North Korea and the northern dialect. I got to talk a lot about movies with director Lee Jong Pil, and while working as an actor, I was able to see the unique charm of film production up close. He wanted to try his hand at film production someday, so he joined Unification Media Group. [UMG] They contacted me and asked if I would like to make a show about military life in North Korea. I wanted to make a web drama, so I wrote a script for 12 episodes, but it was a little too long, so UMG asked me to shorten it, so I decided to remake it as a short film. ”
Daily NK: Even though the movie is based on your own experiences, I don’t think it was easy to create the characters for the movie. Was the process of writing the script difficult?
“I think I wrote the script relatively quickly because it incorporated a lot of my own experiences. However, it took time to flesh out the characters and their details. The character Jin-cheol was created when I was in elementary school. I happened to meet him again in the military, and that’s when I learned that he came from a rather unique family background.When we were training as new recruits, He asked me, “Which unit are you assigned to?” I’ll follow you. ” And heI will be in the same company and same unit as I was.. He was exempted from all training and all duties, and never had to go out in the hot sun to weed. [like the rest of us]. Even political guidance officers were intimidated by him, even though he was just a non-commissioned officer. Even when we were in the middle of training, he went out to visit his uncle, a military officer. That’s when I realized that he and I lived in completely different worlds. ”
Daily NK: The actors in the movie speak the North Korean dialect very realistically. Did you hire North Korean actors?
“No, the whole staff was Korean, including the actors. We could have found some North Korean actors, but I wanted this to be like North Koreans telling a story that everyone already knows. I didn’t want to make it into a movie. Korean actors might have difficult accents to understand, and they might not know much about North Korea, but I wanted to make a movie that would help people learn about North Korea. I wanted to. [including the people involved in the film themselves.] One of my friends, who is also a North Korean defector, came to visit me on set, and during the production of the film, I saw the South Korean staff and actors showing curiosity, asking questions, and learning more about North Korea. It was really fun to watch. I felt energized by answering their questions and really enjoyed the filming process. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that atmosphere on set. I taught the actors the North Korean dialect, and I was surprised at how well they spoke. Frankly, I think they did a better job than the famous actors who do North Korean accents in big movies. When I showed this movie to my North Korean defector friends, they all asked, “Where did you find such good-looking North Korean defector actors?” Their acting was that great. On set, if their accent or intonation was a little off, we corrected it right away, and they did a great job following it up. ”
Daily NK: Some of the movie’s props caught my eye during the screening, including Jim Beam whiskey and a BMW sports car. Such items are very rare among North Korean soldiers, is there a reason why you wanted to display those brands on screen?
“There was a reason. Of course, an ordinary worker in North Korea might live his whole life without ever seeing a scene like this. [Jim Beam or a BMW]. Even for soldiers with high-ranking relatives, it will be difficult. [Jin-chol] To get those things in the movie. However, in North Korea, the gap between the rich and the poor is widening.We intentionally wanted to show that senior executives enjoy something even more luxurious. [than I showed here.]”
Daily NK: Throughout the film, there was a close-up of a red banner in the background that read “For the Party, the Leader, the Fatherland and the People!” As a director, what was your intention in making that choice??
“That slogan is one of the ways the party gaslights the North Korean people. The scene where Jin-cheol strangles Kwang-hyuk was filmed so that the words ‘For the people!’ could be seen. It’s in the background. I wanted to express that North Korea’s elite class is suffocating the lives of ordinary people. Just then, Gwang-il hits Jin-cheol on the head. Gwang-il was pandering to those in power, so he wanted to convey that if the people who flatter and support the elite choose to side with the people, the elite will collapse. ”
Daily NK: I can really feel your passion for performance. Do you have any plans to return to acting?
“‘Two Soldiers’ told a story about life inside North Korea, and now I’m working on a film that tells about the life of North Korean defectors in South Korea. I want to continue using the medium. [like film] This is to inform people about the human rights situation in North Korea. ”
Watch “Two Soldiers” (with English subtitles) here.
Translated by Rose Adams. Edited by Robert Lawler.
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