Excellent but underrated film

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

. The book had a lot of details that the movie didn't such as how Shin ripped his leg on the fence as he tried to escape. In the movie it didn't show that he had hurt himself while trying to escape besides from the guards. How i can prove this is that i've watched the movie before i read the book. The book has much more imagery and important details that the movie simply left out.

No rational person can doubt the ferocity of life in DPRK. Nobody is safe, and I don't doubt at all the basic truths of this film. But I have one question, maybe I just missed the explanation but in a country where there is no individualism and everyone spies on everyone else--which we assume to be the case--how could a 14-year-old boy, after escaping from a labour camp like this, just turn up in a nearby village and hang out there with no money, no work, no relatives, no friends, and more importantly no contacts to shield him from local police or camp guards who knew he escaped and must have been looking for him? The film did say the frozen river made it easier then to cross into China, but he had no prior knowledge of the outside world apart from what he was told by his cellmate? It could not have been as "easy" as the film made it sound, given the circumstances of the escape and even the time of year when it would have been very cold.On other points, the interlude among the group preparing for a road trip in support of Free DPRK was jarring in that it didn't lighten the mood, it just seemed out of place. And the chain-smoking ex-guard was pure evil, far more than any fictional character.

!!!@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@!!!!!!!! I came across this movie after seeing shin speak about his experience on Anderson Cooper. I knew it was going to be a sad story, one of torture and the freedom of escape from a horrible place....What really struck me, is at the end when he says that he misses his pure heart and would rather live in the camp he came from and endure the beatings and abuse than to live in the modern world with the constant struggle for money and the constant worry that comes with everyday life....What does this say about modern day society? This man still knows no peace even with freedom because we are still slaves to something, all of us. I can only imagine wanting to taste something you only ever heard about, to think you are in heaven and then to be let down by it and realizing the places are different, the situation different but you still are not free. He misses the ignorance of his sheltered life. It makes me sad for humanity that consumerism and greediness has ruined us. And we wonder how people can be institutionalized and even feel a comfort after time in it? I understand it, and I wish him all the best the world can offer him. I thought it was a great documentary and an eye opener!

I don't know where to begin. After exhaustive study of various Medieval torture and execution methods and Chinese's thousands way to die – I thought I could stomach anything. This is different. There are no gores. No screaming special effects. Shortest recounts follow by a deafening silence. And the indifference a fellow human being can be taught to be totally devoid of emotions or compassion for another and even to one's own family member. Words escape me because even in post 21st century an evil this horrifying still exists among us.I don't know how to continue.Depending on whether you are able to empathize with intense human conditions, you'll either hate it for being boring or laud it for its courage and fortitude. Shin Dong-hyuk, born 1982, is believed to be the only known person born in a North Korean prison camp that escaped to tell the tale. Due to his extraordinary circumstances, for the very first time, we're witnessing a difficult and painful recount of memories he wish he never had to revisit – in fact, on several occasions, the memories were so intense – he attempt to stop the interview. During his long pauses – I stared at him – attempting to connect to his soul; I can feel a boiling of emotions – using my own imaginations – it's harrowing. I actually felt bad he had to relive these painful memories but someone has to do it sooner or later so the world would know. Ex-prison guards who now live in South Korea are interviewed as well.One observation: after watching the film, I felt Shin has his soul torn out literally - he couldn't cry or shed tears even as a memory deeply disturbs him. He at times felt anger but that soft human side that takes years of love to nurture – that's missing. I am deeply saddened. Maybe in time, he will find peace in his own ways.I will stop here. If you should watch it, it is not for the faint of heart. There are many thoughts flying through my minds right now, how lucky we are, the innocence of a pure heart vs. a world run by money, what is it to be human, how low can a human go if they're deprived of love and how in the darkest hour a human affection can redeem a soul.This is not just a movie review – it's a call to action. Join grassroots movement, write to international bodies for human rights, and spread the word. For the day the N. Korean prison camps fall, it will be a huge triumph for humanity.