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Under the Sun

Play trailer Poster for Under the Sun 2015 1h 46m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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94% Tomatometer 32 Reviews 70% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
An ordinary family in Pyongyang is followed for a year.

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Under the Sun

Critics Reviews

View All (32) Critics Reviews
John Hartl Seattle Times It's a movie self-consciously framed around its own making: specifically the creation of a Korean propaganda spectacle. Mansky uses the limitations imposed on him by the government to create a kind of commentary on the genre. Rated: 2.5/4 Aug 4, 2016 Full Review Tim Grierson Paste Magazine Daring and thought-provoking, director Vitaly Mansky's film uses one North Korean family to examine how everyone -- moviemakers, governments, even individuals -- contorts reality to fit specific purposes. Jul 27, 2016 Full Review Barry Hertz Globe and Mail Both provocative and underwhelming. Rated: 2.5/4 Jul 15, 2016 Full Review Vladan Petkovic Cineuropa Without revealing a single detail of the functioning of the state apparatus, [filmmaker Vitaly] Mansky has conveyed its very essence. Aug 31, 2020 Full Review Panos Kotzathanasis Asian Movie Pulse The first word that comes to mind about "Under The Sun" is "shocking", although, at times, even that appears modest in describing what I was watching on screen. Jan 26, 2020 Full Review Anthony Kao Cinema Escapist Russian filmmaker Vitaly Manskiy's Under the Sun is perhaps the most philosophical and artistic documentary I've seen about North Korea. Aug 14, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (15) audience reviews
mark b Whilst I can see the academic value of this film - showing us parts of North Korea we wouldn't otherwise see and making it clear how much of it is scripted by the North Koreans - it rapidly becomes rather boring. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Required viewing for all human beings. A beautiful film. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/28/17 Full Review Audience Member Interesting doco. 1hr 40mins of WTF, with many a moment of pity. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/19/23 Full Review Audience Member I fascinating glimpse behind the curtain at the artifice of the public image that North Korea wishes to portray. While the film shows little beyond the carefully staged choreography presented by the political class, it serves to compound the chilling reality of a nation bound by a strict and secretive dictatorship Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/19/23 Full Review Audience Member Documentary, movie or theater? What's the difference when the real "director" here is the state of North Korea. Holy shit. Who needs science fiction when you've got this? (Required watching) Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member Really boring, way to many silent periods, they really should have edited out much of the boring repeated sections, and quiet emotions when they were just showing faces of people. You van get a much better North Korea story elsewhere, this one is really only interesting because they show that the North Korean government wants you to see the country in this way, which we know isn't true. Watched on Netflix at Sam's with her, December 27, 2016. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Under the Sun

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis An ordinary family in Pyongyang is followed for a year.
Director
Vitaliy Manskiy
Producer
Simone Baumann, Natalia Manskaya, Filip Remunda, Vit Klusak, Petr Kubica
Screenwriter
Vitaliy Manskiy
Production Co
Hypermarket Film
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
Korean
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 20, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$104.8K
Runtime
1h 46m
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