This week’s inspirational piece is from the New York Times, an 8-minute documentary called “Escape From North Korea.” It tells the story of “Dragon”, a “broker” who smuggles people out of North Korea and across China to safety.
This is a compelling piece for its cinematic qualities: characters, evocative music, shaky handheld and out-of-focus camera work all combine to draw the viewer into this dangerous, tense business. It’s difficult to tell, but I believe Dragon’s voice may have been electronically distorted as well.
The P.O.V. perspective makes the viewer feel as though he is one of the people being smuggled, particularly when the group is slashing its way single-file through a jungle. We can imagine–barely–what it might be like to fear for your life as you risk it all to escape a repressive government.
The central character, Dragon, is both sympathetic and enigmatic. He himself was a defector, so he can empathize with his clients. Still, he is running a business and has certain cash flow requirements, so we watch his mood swing from convivial to threatening as he tries to exact payment from the people he helps. And yet we realize he is under enormous stress and pressure, as evidenced by the final moment of the piece, which has him push his head wearily back on his car’s headrest.