Mein Ich in der fernen Zukunft

Like so many films from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, this one tries very hard to appear romantic, but in the end is only romantically interested about country itself. A reporter meets a man in a train, and the man, Sin Jun, starts telling him his life story. This is the classical narrative of a prodigal son. Initially Sin Jun, apparently a young man though looking 40, felt that since the previous generation worked hard enough to establish nice living conditions for North Koreans, this generation can take it easy, and not think about the generation after them. Of course this doesn't fly with the more morally sound citizens around him, like his city engineer father who is ashamed of his son.

Sin Jun's worldview starts to change, when he comes across Su Yang, a young girl with a flourishing military career and a proper work ethic. They meet several times, in Pyongyang, on the countryside and everywhere in between, and Sin Jun's pursuit of this woman is slowly turning him into the ideal worker. Though aiming for relatable romance, the film feels patronizing and only makes you think about working. The couple don't really have personalities outside the moralizing narrative. There are interesting scenes for cultural scholars and people interested in propaganda. In one scene, they work at a field and their combine harvester breaks down. Because oil is scarce, they decide to do the job manually, and make it fun for everyone by turning it into a speed contest. North Koreans are anything but subtle. This is not one of the better propaganda pieces from the isolated country.