North Korean films are underrated. Of course, there is a lot of propaganda, and yes, plenty of far-fetched storylines. But some of them are genuinely funny, and many reveal a lot about how the country was supposed to work – and how it actually did.

One real gem is “Our Family’s Problem” (우리 집 문제; viewable here), an old black-and-white classic from 1973. It’s about how the head of a local post office, entrusted with the vital task of delivering newspapers, gradually gets corrupted by his wife, who is eager for the good life and lacking in revolutionary consciousness.