This is a great documentary about the North Korean soccer team that staged a series of improbable upsets as they advanced through the 1966 World Cup. More than just a sports documentary, it’s a fascinating look at the hermetic nation of North Korea, as well as 1960’s England fascination with their little known or understood guests.Read More »
Eusebio scores four goals to help Portugal come back from 3-0 down to defeat underdogs North Korea 5-3 at Everton’s Goodison Park in the 1966 World Cup quarter-finals.
The football legend has died at the age of 71.
Widely considered one of the best players of all-time, he scored 733 times in 745 professional matches
Even in defeat, the North Koreans were, by now, undoubted ambassadors for their country. The warmth was shared on both sides.
When Dan Gordon visited the players in North Korea, they were eager to return to Middlesborough. But were they just victims of a Communist system that had driven them to do well?
Not according to Dan Gordon, who says that modern football has only just caught up with the fast-paced style that the Koreans played:
“Football in 1966 was incredibly slow, and nowadays teams play like the Koreans did in 1966… I wouldn’t call them victims at all… they were visionaries.” Read More »
In 1962, a U.S. soldier sent to guard the peace in South Korea deserted his unit, walked across the most heavily fortified area on earth and defected to the Cold War enemy, the communist state of North Korea. He then simply disappeared from the face of the known world. He became a coveted star of the North Korean propaganda machine, and found fame acting in films, typecast as an evil American. He uses Korean as his daily language. He has three sons from two wives. He has now lived in North Korea twice as long as he has in America. At one time, there were four Americans living in North Korea. Today, just one remains. Now, after 45 years, the story of Comrade Joe, the last American defector in North Korea, is told.Read More »
“A riveting BBC documentary that illuminates the character of that nation.” — Jeff Shannon, SEATTLE TIMES
“Striking footage from North Korea, the country with the world’s fewest visitors.” — Harvey S. Karten, COMPUSERVE
“Priceless footage inside the secret church-state of North Korea and the beautiful Mass Games, this documentary sheds little light on the people themselves.” — Ron Wilkinson, MONSTERS AND CRITICS
“Gordon gives an intimate, balanced account of how political power, famine, power shortages and a hatred of America have shaped their young lives.” — Paul Malcolm, L.A. WEEKLY
“The biggest value of the movie is the depiction of Pyongyang life, the elaborate Mass Games choreography, a wondrous road trip to the revered Mount Paektu, and the ideological mind-set of typical North Korean citizens.” — G. Allen Johnson, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLERead More »