The Red Chapel

Det Røde Kapel

(Denmark, 2009, 87 mins, HDCam)

Executive Producers: Mette Hoffmann Meyer, Peter Aalbæk Jensen
Producer: Peter Engel
Cinematographer: René Johannsen
Editor: René Johannsen
Cast: Simon Jul Jørgensen, Jacob Nossell

Intending to expose the horrors of North Korea, director-trickster Mads Brügger and two Danish-Korean comedians infiltrate Kim Jong Il’s totalitarian nation under the guise of a cultural exchange program. The result is the mind-bogglingly bizarre documentary The Red Chapel.

For starters, the comedy duo—chubby Simon and wheelchair-bound, self-described “spastic” Jacob—are thunderously (and deliberately) unfunny. Knowing that their every move—and all their footage—is being scrutinized by their nonplussed but ever polite hosts, Brügger and his dissembling duo must tread carefully and duplicitously. When their charade triggers a crisis of conscience in the handicapped Jacob, who has grown fond of their official “handler,” the robotically patriotic Ms. Pak, he has to be reminded of some troubling realities in this grim nation, where any problems, be they social, economical, or—most pointedly for Jacob—physical, seem to simply, chillingly not exist.

Watching The Red Chapel is a deeply unsettling, hilarious, and unique experience. It truly must be seen to be believed, and as anyone who has seen it can attest, you won’t be able to stop talking about it.

David Ansen

Expected to attend: Mads Brugger.

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