The Red Chapel

Looking for a laugh in North Korea? Originally a four-part miniseries on Danish TV, \i The Red Chapel \i0 is the account of a bizarre expedition. Comics Jacob and Simon were born in Korea and adopted by Danish parents when they were still children. Together with Mads Br\'fcgger, who poses as their manager, they get permission to put on a vaudeville act in Pyongyang, North Korea, in the framework of cultural exchange. And to make it even more complicated for the North Koreans, Jacob is spastic. "Please keep in mind that all footage has been filmed with the North Korean secret police in mind," Br\'fcgger warns, while pretending to peruse the handbook entitled \i On the Art of Cinema\i0 , written by the beloved leader Kim Jung-Il. Only Jacob can say what he wants -- after all, how will they ever understand his spastic Danish? In the voice-over, Br\'fcgger explains his intentions, points out the darker side of the regime, and provides his own interpretation of the tears shed at the monument of Kim Il-Sung. "Comedy is the soft spot of all dictatorship," he suspects, but he hasn't met the North Koreans yet. Without being able to do much about it, the bewildered Danes are deployed for propagandist purposes, and a North Korean director gives their performance a different twist. Meanwhile, their inseparable guide Mrs. Pak would appear to harbor genuine motherly feelings for Jacob.