Under the Sun

2015

1h 46m

Documentary

List

94%

Tomatometer

32 Reviews

70%

Popcornmeter

500+ Ratings

An ordinary family in Pyongyang is followed for a year.

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

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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

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Barry Hertz

Globe and Mail

Both provocative and underwhelming.

Rated: 2.5/4

Jul 15, 2016

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Audience Member

Required viewing for all human beings. A beautiful film.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/28/17

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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

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Vitaliy Manskiy

Director

Lee Zin-Mi

Self

Yu-Yong

Self

Hye-Yong

Self

Vitaliy Manskiy

Writer

Simone Baumann

Producer

Show Less Cast & Crew

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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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