Jump to content

The Mole: Undercover in North Korea

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Hebsen (talk | contribs) at 23:19, 12 October 2020 (Add infobox). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The Mole: Undercover in North Korea
Muldvarpen – Undercover i Nordkorea
GenreDocumentary
Directed byMads Brügger
Country of originDenmark, Sweden, Norway, United Kingdom
No. of episodes3
Production
Producers
Original release
Release11 October 2020
Related
Det Røde Kapel

The Mole: Undercover in North Korea is a 2020 documentary miniseries by Mads Brügger.

The series follows Ulrich Larsen, in the series called "the Mole", a former chef living on benefits, who spends 10 years infiltrating the Korean Friendship Association (KFA).[1] He quickly rises through the ranks and gains the trust of KFA leader Alejandro Cao de Benós from Spain.[1] Cao de Benós tells the Mole that he is looking for possible investors that are willing to invest in North Korea, despite sanctions against the country, and Brügger decides to inject into the story a "Mr James" (Jim Latrache-Qvortrup), pretending to be a possible investor.[2] After a meeting with Cao de Benós about possible sale of drugs and weapons from North Korea, the Mole and Mr James travels to North Korea, where they signs an contract with North Korea about producing drugs and weapons in another country.[3] Mr James meets the North Koreans officials again in Uganda, where they discuss buying an island in Lake Victoria to construct an underground drugs- and weapons manufactory, under the disguise of establishing a luxury hotel.[4]

People

The Mole / Ulrich Larsen

Ulrich Larsen is a former chef, who was forced to retire early due to chronic inflammation in the pancreas, and now lives on government benefits.[3] He watched Brügger's documentary series Det Røde Kapel (The Red Chapel) about North Korea, and became interested in the country. He join the Korean Friendship Association and contacted Brügger about his ventures. He started filming the meeting, officially to post them to social media, but really in the case Brügger should be interested in making a sequel to Det Røde Kapel.[3]

He lives in a Copenhagen suburb with his wife and kids, who did not knew about his 10 year long double-life. He had only told his wife that he was in the friendship association out of curiosity, where he was traveling, but not what he did there, and that he was working with Brügger on a project where he "make fun of" Det Røde Kapel.[3] When he told his wife about him true role, she said she thought was an idiot, and that it was tough with the lies and the danger he put himself into, and the way he retracted from the family.[3] In an October 2020 interview with DR in connection with the premier, Larsen told that he had become more vigilant, placing empty soda cans on door handles in hotels, so he is warned if anybody tries to enter.[3]

Sam Wollaston of The Guardian describes his as "polite, unassuming, his unmemorable 44-year-old face is how I imagine an efit template might be, what you start with before you add distinguishing features. You get to decide who he is. Perfect for blending in."[1]

Mr James / Jim Latrache-Qvortrup

The actor who played James is Jim Latrache-Qvortrup, a former French foreign legionnaire and convicted drug dealer.[5][6]

Alejandro Cao de Benós

The series features the Korean Friendship Association with its representative Alejandro Cao de Benós. He has stated that he was just acting, playing along on Mr James' plans to deal weapons and drugs.[7]

Production

The documentary is produced by Wingman Media and Piraya Film, with DR, NRK, SVT and BBC Storyville being co-producers.[3]

It was written and directed by Mads Brügger.

The documentary contains an actor playing "Mr James", which pretends to be an investor. Mr James, an agent provocateur, seems willing to do illicit deals involving narcotics and weapons.[7]

Reception

The documentary received five out of six stars/hearts from both Berlingske, Politiken and Jyllands-Posten, and Ekko.[8][9][10][11] Thomas Brunstrøm of Berlingske said that "even by Mads Brügger's standard, it is an insane story, with characters so colorful that if The Mole had been fiction, you would probably say it was too unrealistic."[8] Bo Tao Michaëlis of Ekko call the documentary a "007-movie without fast car chases and hot blondes", applauding Brügger's decision to pair the anonymous Larsen with the former Foreign Legionary and criminal Latrache-Qvortrup.[11]

Ola Kaldager, the former leader of the Intelligence Service of Norway's group E 14, said about Larsen's infiltration: "As an intelligence operation, this is one of the best I have seen."[12]

Reactions

The Swedish and Danish foreign ministers, Ann Linde and Jeppe Kofoed, announced on 12 October 2020 that they would bring the documentary to the attention of the UN Sanctions Committee, and also raise the issues in the European Union.[13][14]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wollaston, Sam (12 October 2020). "'Every boy's dream is to be James Bond': Inside North Korea with 'Mr James' and 'the Mole'". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 October 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ Kristiansen, Annegerd Lerche (11 October 2020). "Instruktør Mads Brügger lod familiefar infiltrere Nordkorea: 'Det kunne være endt helt forfærdeligt'" [Director Mads Brügger let family father infiltrate North Korea: 'It could had ended terribly']. DR (in Danish). Retrieved 12 October 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Kristiansen, Annegerd Lerche (11 October 2020). Schou, Kim (ed.). "Muldvarpen i Nordkorea" [The mole in North Korea]. DR (in Danish). Retrieved 12 October 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ Adams, Paul (11 October 2020). "Documentary claims to expose North Korea trying to dodge sanctions". BBC News. Retrieved 12 October 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ "Tidligere dansk jetsetpusher hyret til at snyde Nordkorea" (in Danish). 2020-11-12.
  6. ^ "'Every boy's dream is to be James Bond': Inside North Korea with 'Mr James' and 'the Mole'". The Guardian. 2020-10-12.
  7. ^ a b "Instruktør Mads Brügger lod familiefar infiltrere Nordkorea: 'Det kunne være endt helt forfærdeligt'" (in Danish). 2020-10-11.
  8. ^ a b Brunstrøm, Thomas (11 October 2020). "Anmeldelse: Selv efter Mads Brügger-standarder er »Muldvarpen« det glade vanvid" [Review: Even by Mads Brügger's standards, »The Mole« is sheer madness]. Berlingske (in Danish). Retrieved 11 October 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ^ Grundahl, Joakim (11 October 2020). "5 hjerter: Man taber kæben over Mads Brüggers nye dokumentar" [5 hearts: Your jaw drops over Mads Brügger's new documentary]. Politiken (in Danish). Retrieved 11 October 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ Boysen, Katrine Sommer (11 October 2020). "Mads Brüggers forbilledlige DR-dokumentar "Muldvarpen" får os helt tæt på Nordkoreas usandsynlige manøvrer" [Mads Brügger's exemplary DR-documentary "The Mole" brings us very close to the unlikely maneuvers by North Korea]. Jyllands-Posten (in Danish). Retrieved 11 October 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ^ a b Michaëlis, Bo Tao (11 October 2020). "Muldvarpen – Undercover i Nordkorea" [The Mole – Undercover in North Korea]. Ekko (in Danish). Retrieved 11 October 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ Hansen, Ståle (11 October 2020). "Spionekspert: – En av de beste etterretningsoperasjoner jeg har sett" [Spy expert: – One of the best intelligence operations I have seen]. NRK (in Danish). Retrieved 12 October 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ^ "Joint statement by the minister for foreign affairs of Sweden Ann Linde and the minister for foreign affairs of Denmark Jeppe Kofod:". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. 12 October 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ "Danmark og Sverige bringer DR-dokumentar op i FN-komité" [Denmark and Sweden brings up DR-documentary in UN-committee]. Berlingske (in Danish). Ritzau. 12 October 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
Stub icon

This Danish television-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.


Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Mole:_Undercover_in_North_Korea&oldid=983217536"