North-South tension masked in ceremony

There was pageantry, there were dignitaries, and the big guns were cheered.

But enough about Thursday’s military parade in North Korea, moved to a date near the start of the Winter Olympics in the neighbouring South for absolutely no ulterior motive of any kind, according to state media.

Pyeongchang, a cosy 100 kilometres from the demilitarized zone, was forced to follow its neighbour’s celebration of missile might with the opening ceremony of the optimistically branded Peace Games, which officially got underway with a festival of brotherhood that came off as well-intended if a bit forced at times.

North Korean leader Kim Jongun’s sister, their country’s apparent designated survivor, was the most prominent member of her delegation in attendance. But the sketchy-seeming detente between North and South was really brought to life by having a member of the joint Korean women’s hockey team from each side of the border be the penultimate bearers of the Olympic flame.

South Korea wants to showcase a modern, clean, efficient image, one where pristine assembly lines churn out surprisingly high-quality cars, electronics and boy bands with equal precision. In the early going, the mix of instadium performances with preshot video montages was quite effective.

But the Winter Games canvas is only so big. For that reason, the gold medal for opening ceremonies will always go to Beijing, site of the Summer Games in 2008. The world was on the precipice of a financial meltdown, but China spared no expense to stage a live version of a gobsmacking cinematic spectacle, with a renegade Cirque du Soleil troupe thrown in for good measure.

Hilariously, CBC was offering an Internet stream of the ceremony in described video, which is all anyone got on television anyway. The reading of notes telling audience members what they’re supposed to be feeling should have been banned years ago.