'Comrade Kim Goes Flying' might not be the most exceptional film at the IFFK but it definitely is the most exceptional film to come out of North Korea. It is the first North Korean film to be edited outside the country. It is the first North Korean film done in sync sound. And here is the most unique feature. It is the first North Korean film without a political content.
Bonner knows that this is hard to comprehend. “You have to be a North Korean to comprehend this. There are all sorts of film genres in North Korea; love stories, stories of revenge, horror films what not. It will all sound very exciting but after 20 minutes you will fall asleep. Because after that the propaganda sets in. The film will then be about our leader, about why we are the greatest country on earth and that this great country is being invaded by foreign powers. This happens irrespective of whether the boy gets the girl or the vampire is bottled or not," Bonner said.
However, Bonner said that 'Comrade Kim Goes Flying' was not an act of rebellion. “We were just making an absolute entertainer with no message except perhaps to live one's own dream," Bonner said. The idea was not even to impart a gloss on North Korea. “The outside world's understanding of North Korea is more in terms of nuclear power, dictatorship and starvation," Bonner said. “We wanted to show more of North Korea," he added.
Not surprisingly, 'Comrade Kim Goes Flying' did not get a release in North Korea.
Bonner said that he would not make another such attempt. “Without a release and revenues, how can we approach another producer," he asked.
'Comrade Kim Goes Flying' premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2012. In October that year, it was shown at Busan International Film Festival in South Korea. In March 2013 it played in the United States, with the Wall Street Journal calling it a “feel-good style of a Doris DayRock Hudson picture".
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