Life and deaths in the movie ‘48M’

What would be the distance between life and death, freedom and oppression, and hope and despair? They say it is 48 meters. The move “48M” graphically displays this distance. This refers to the narrowest point of the Amrok River that streams along the North Korean and Chinese border, or the distance between Yangkang Province in the North and Changbai Prefecture in China. There are no barbed wires or land mines in this area. But there is something more dangerous: hawkish eyes of North Korean border guards and possible gunshots from nowhere.

The “48M” is a movie based on a real story about North Korean defectors. The main characters of the movie dream about defecting the North, eventually risking their lives to cross the river. But many of them get shot and fall down. Others fall victims to scams by senior North Korean border guards, who blindly seek to crack down on defectors. The story also features a border guard who joins a group of other defectors due to his lingering sense of guilt. The ending section of the movie suggests that people who successfully crossed the river also get caught and repatriated to the North.

I came to watch this movie because an op-ed piece by Jang Jin-seong, who argues that “Gwangju citizens should block screening of ‘The Flower Girl.’” Jang says this movie, which the Gwangju International Film Festival Organizing Committee requested the Unification Ministry to allow screening at the festival, is not a movie simply about Koreans’ resisting Japanese colonial rule, but a propaganda movie on communist revolution, which seeks to incite class strife during the era of colonial rule. He suggests it would be wiser to screen instead the “48M,” a film on North Korean human rights, claiming that airing such a movie in Gwangju, the land of democracy, is not appropriate,

Jang himself is a North Korean defector. He is famous for the poem “I sell my daughter for 100 won (8.5 cents).” Since he worked with the Unification and Propaganda Department of the North Korean Workers` Party, he knows North Korea better than anyone. His memoirs about defection, which describes hardship he suffered in the course of his defection from the North to arrival in Seoul in 2004, are truly dramatic. He is currently running New Focus, an online news site for North Korean defectors that analyzes the North’s moves and graphically presents reality in the reclusive country. Jang said, “This movie drives audience to fall into ‘the aspiration for 48 meters.’”

The movie 48M was created with donations and support from North Korean defectors. Since the movie seeks to faithfully convey real episodes, the story is serious and the screen looks gloomy. It contains no comical elements or love stories that are found in other North Korea-related films. Since characters in the movie communicate using North Korean dialect, viewers have hard time understanding dialogue, and oftentimes fail to accurately understand meaning. I know that producers created the movie in a challenging environment, but I lightly thought to myself that once they chose to make the movie, it would have been better if they added elements of movie to this work.

The 48M was completed in August last year. With support from Suzanne Scholte, human rights activist for North Korea, the movie had a special premier event at the U.S. House of Representatives a month later. The movie was only screened for about a year in Korea, because it could not find distributors. Distributors that are keen on box office figures would be hardly satisfied. But due to the recent economic democratization campaign, CJ CGV accepted and has been airing the movie since July 4 this year.

As expected, it is not drawing many moviegoers. In the past, some celebrities and politicians would intentionally go and see a movie criticizing social problems, and express their support by introducing it, but this movie does not even draw such kind of audience. I inquired CGV to find that a cumulative total of 7,175 people watched it through Thursday. When I was watching this movie on Wednesday night, we only had 11 people in the company, including myself. Hence, I was really grateful to the CGV cinema, and fellow audience who watched the movie with me.

When referring to human rights in North Korea, people often recall ideology. But this movie is not about ideology but about people who simply strive to survive. Though the movie might not be as “interesting” as entertainment-driven movies, I hope that more Koreans pay attention and listen to what those people have to say. The Gwangju International Film Festival is reportedly moving to screen two North Korean movies to contribute to mutual understanding (between the two Koreas) and peace on the Korean Peninsula through cultural influence, and I sincerely hope that the organizers consider including this movie.