Under the Sun follows the life of a Pyongyang family whose daughter was chosen to take part in one of the famous Korean Spartakiads.
Despite North Korea's steadfast disinterest in the rest of the world, we have hit Peak Pyongyang here in the West. Last year, two memoirs about life in the isolated state popped up on bookshelves – including the covertly written Without You, There Is No Us – while this year promises five more. Add to that Hollywood's curiosity (which resulted in the international incident known as The Interview) and a cottage industry of newspaper and magazine features, and we seem to know more about the Democratic People's Republic of Korea than ever before. Which makes Vitaliy Manskiy's new film both provocative and underwhelming. On the one hand, it was filmed with the co-operation of the state, which allowed the director unprecedented access. On the other, the images Manskiy captures – including off-the-cuff footage that reveals the state's coercive PR tactics – can't help but feel derivative of a story we've been told over and over again. It's shocking and troubling, but it doesn't add much to the reality we already know cruelly exists.
Barry Hertz