‘Denis Rodman’s Big Bang In Pyongyang’ offers the double take inducing premise of basketball legend/loon Denis Rodman travelling to North Korea to play an exhibition match in one of the most oppressed and mysterious places on earth, North Korea before the most intimidating leaders on earth, Kim Jong-un. The fact that Rodman makes The Glorious Leader look like positively level headed and normal is a testament to his unpredictable behaviour and the jaw dropping story contained in this often gripping and hilarious documentary.
The story that follows, as it unfolds before your incredulous eyes is expertly handled by director Colin Offland and told by narrator Matt Cooper. Rodman’s self explained intentions to open avenues of communication between the west and North Korea, whilst, if sincere, are laudable but they soon get drowned out in a wave of international outrage and the booze at the bottom of his ever present glass. Offland, his sound guy and Cooper himself were present throughout and whilst this is pitched as a whacky ‘would you believe it’ (mis)adventure, you should not ignore the genuine threat they were all in throughout. If anything this dark undercurrent adds to the bizarre turn of events as the everyone involved gets tossed back and forth and spun about like a basketball.
Kim himself remains almost a peripheral figure throughout but his presence looms large as Rodman unravels in the very last place on earth where such outrageous behaviour is tolerated.
‘Denis Rodman’s Big Bang In Pyongyang’ is a knuckle whitening, cringe bothering rollercoaster of laughs and mayhem that will have you scratching your head, rubbing your eyes and holding your sides. It HAS to be seen to be believed and now you have your chance...
You can catch ‘Denis Rodman’s Big Bang In Pyongyang’ in the Omniplex in Rathmines, Dublin and Mahon Point, Cork for a weeklong run from this Thursday the 23rd.
