The Lovers & the Despot (2016)
The Lovers and the Despot
| The Lovers and the Despot | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Robert Cannan Ross Adam |
| Written by | Robert Cannan Ross Adam |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | Choi Eun-hee Shin Sang-ok Kim Jong Il |
| Narrated by | Choi Eun-hee |
| Edited by | Jim Hession |
| Music by | Nathan Halpern |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Soda Pictures Magnolia Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 95 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Languages | English Korean Japanese |
The Lovers and the Despot is a 2016 British documentary film written and directed by Robert Cannan and Ross Adam, about the 1978 abduction of South Korean actress Choi Eun-hee, and film director Shin Sang-ok, by Kim Jong Il of North Korea. It was pitched at Sheffield Doc/Fest's 2014 MeetMarket.
Release
Critical response
The Lovers and the Despot has received positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 77%, based on 57 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10. The site's consensus states: "The Lovers and the Despot offers a compelling—albeit by no means comprehensive—look at one of the more bizarrely stranger-than-fiction episodes in cinematic history."[1] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 65 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[2]
Writing for The New York Times, Manohla Dargis stated that "Despite its flaws and will to kitsch, The Lovers and the Despot has enough enigmas and chills to merit a look, even if some of its spookier moments involve cinephilia rather than the usual weapons of mass destruction."[3]
In Jordan Hoffman's review for The Guardian, he wrote that "there's an incredible story somewhere in this tale [...], but this documentary buries it by way of over-measured effects and chronic pussy-footing."[4] In a review for RogerEbert.com, Matt Zoller Seitz called it a "frustrating missed opportunity", saying it "takes a fascinating story about filmmaking, politics, kidnapping and propaganda and gives us almost no insight into the work of its two main characters."[5]
Box office
As of 3 November 2016, the film has grossed $55,511 at the box office.[6]
See also
References
- "The Lovers and the Despot (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
- "The Lovers and the Despot reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
- Dargis, Manohla (22 September 2016). "Review: In 'The Lovers and the Despot,' a Harrowing Korean Ordeal". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
- Hoffman, Jordan (24 January 2016). "The Lovers and the Despot: study of Kim Jong-Il's cinephilia is hard to adore". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
- Seitz, Matt Zoller (23 September 2016). "The Lovers and the Despot". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
- "The Lovers and the Despot". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
External links
- The Lovers and the Despot at the distributor's website
- The Lovers and the Despot at IMDb
- The Lovers and the Despot official trailer on YouTube
세진님, 요청하신 다큐멘터리 <연인과 독재자>(2016)에 대한 요약과 평론입니다. 말씀하신 대로 한국어 번역 제목을 사용하였으며, 본문은 <해라> 체를 사용하여 작성하였습니다.
<연인과 독재자> (2016): 영화보다 더 영화 같은 납치극의 기록
1. 요약: 신상옥과 최은희, 그리고 평양의 시네마토그래피
다큐멘터리 <연인과 독재자>는 1970년대 한국 영화계의 황금기를 이끌었던 신상옥 감독과 배우 최은희 부부가 북한의 지도자 김정일에 의해 납치되었다가 탈출하기까지의 과정을 다룬 작품이다. 로버트 캐넌과 로스 아담이 연출한 이 영화는 최은희의 생전 인터뷰와 신상옥 감독의 생전 증언, 그리고 그들이 목숨을 걸고 북한에서 녹음해온 김정일의 육성 기록을 바탕으로 구성되었다.
사건의 시작은 1978년 홍콩이었다. 당시 신상옥 감독과 이혼 상태였던 최은희는 사업 제안을 받고 홍콩으로 향했다가 북한 공작원에 의해 납치된다. 얼마 후, 전 부인의 행방을 찾던 신상옥 역시 홍콩에서 납치되어 평양으로 끌려간다. 영화는 이들이 북한에서 겪은 수년간의 고초를 담담하지만 긴박하게 그려낸다. 특히 신상옥은 수차례 탈출을 시도하다 수용소에 감금되기도 했으나, 결국 김정일의 전폭적인 지지 아래 다시 메가폰을 잡게 된다.
영화광으로 알려진 김정일은 북한 영화의 수준을 세계적으로 끌어올리기 위해 당대 최고의 한국 영화인 부부가 필요했다. 그는 신상옥과 최은희를 재결합시키고, <신필름>을 세워 막대한 예산과 인력을 지원한다. 이 시기에 탄생한 <불가사리> 등의 영화들은 북한 영화사에 유례없는 족적을 남긴다. 그러나 이들의 목적은 예술이 아닌 탈출이었다. 1986년, 오스트리아 빈을 방문한 기회를 틈타 부부는 미국 대사관으로 극적인 탈출에 성공하며 8년간의 북한 생활에 종지부를 찍는다.
2. 평론: 이데올로기와 예술, 그리고 광기 어린 집착
<연인과 독재자>는 단순한 범죄 다큐멘터리를 넘어 예술적 갈망과 정치적 권력이 기묘하게 뒤섞인 지점을 포착한다. 이 작품이 지닌 가장 강력한 무기는 김정일의 실제 육성이다. <남조선 사람들은 예술을 잘한다>며 자신의 체제 내 영화 수준을 자조하는 김정일의 목소리는, 그가 지녔던 영화에 대한 기괴한 집념과 콤플렉스를 적나라하게 드러낸다.
영화는 신상옥과 최은희라는 두 인물의 감정선에 집중한다. 특히 최은희가 겪은 공포와 외로움, 그리고 신상옥이 느꼈을 창작자로서의 딜레마를 세밀하게 조명한다. 신상옥은 자신을 납치한 독재자의 지원 아래 역설적으로 한국에서는 누리지 못했던 무한한 창작의 자유(경제적, 인적 자원 측면에서)를 얻는다. 이는 예술가에게 독재 권력이란 무엇인가에 대한 철학적인 질문을 던진다. 그들은 살기 위해 영화를 만들었지만, 동시에 그 영화들은 그들의 존재 증명이기도 했다.
연출적인 면에서 이 다큐멘터리는 재연 화면과 아카이브 영상을 적절히 혼용한다. 특히 북한 영화의 장면들을 삽입하여 극의 긴장감을 높이는 방식은 탁월하다. 하지만 서구 감독들의 시선에서 제작된 만큼, 당시 남북한의 복잡한 정치적 맥락보다는 스릴러적인 요소에 치중했다는 한계도 존재한다. 그럼에도 불구하고, 현실이 허구보다 훨씬 더 극적일 수 있다는 사실을 이보다 더 명확하게 보여주는 작품은 드물다.
결론적으로 <연인과 독재자>는 한 시대를 풍미한 예술가 부부의 파란만장한 생애를 통해 권력의 덧없음과 예술의 생명력을 동시에 비춘다. 이는 단순한 납치극의 기록이 아니라, 역사의 소용돌이 속에서도 카메라를 놓지 않았던 한 감독과 배우의 처절한 생존기이다.
세진님, 이 다큐멘터리가 다루는 신상옥 감독의 작품 중 북한에서 제작된 <불가사리>에 대해 더 구체적인 정보나 분석이 필요하신가요? 혹은 다른 다큐멘터리 요약이 필요하시면 언제든 말씀해 주세요.
<The Lovers & the Despot> (2016) 요약 + 평론
1. 작품 개요
<The Lovers & the Despot>는 2016년 로버트 캐넌과 로스 애덤이 공동 연출한 다큐멘터리로, 한국의 영화감독 신상옥과 배우 최은희가 1978년 홍콩에서 납치되어 북한으로 끌려가 8년간 김정일의 영화 프로젝트에 참여하게 된 실화를 다룬다. 제목 그대로, ‘연인’(Shin & Choi)과 ‘독재자’(Kim Jong-il)라는 세 인물의 기묘한 삼각구조가 중심이다.
이 다큐는 단순한 정치 사건 기록이 아니라, 예술·권력·사랑·생존의 문제를 함께 다룬다. 특히 김정일이 영화광이자 영화 수집가였고, 북한 영화의 질적 향상을 국가 전략의 일부로 보았다는 점이 핵심 축이다.
2. 줄거리 요약
① 남한 영화계의 스타 커플
신상옥은 1960년대 한국 영화계를 대표하는 감독이었고, 최은희는 톱배우였다. 두 사람은 결혼했지만, 관계는 점차 멀어졌고 결국 이혼에 이른다. 그럼에도 예술적·정서적 연결은 완전히 끊어지지 않았다.
② 홍콩 납치 사건
1978년, 최은희는 홍콩에서 영화 사업을 추진하던 중 실종된다. 이후 밝혀진 바에 따르면 북한 공작원에게 납치되어 평양으로 이송되었다. 몇 달 뒤, 최은희를 찾으러 홍콩에 온 신상옥 역시 납치된다.
북한에서 두 사람은 오랜 기간 서로를 만나지 못한 채 감금·감시 상태에 놓인다. 신상옥은 탈출을 시도하다가 수용소에 보내지기도 했다.
③ 김정일의 등장
북한의 후계자였던 김정일은 영화에 집착적일 정도로 몰두한 인물이었다. 그는 수천 편의 외국 영화를 수집했고, 헐리우드 스타일의 서사와 기술을 북한 영화에 도입하려 했다.
그는 신상옥과 최은희를 ‘국가적 자산’으로 활용하려 했다. 두 사람은 점차 김정일과 직접 만나게 되고, 설득과 회유 속에서 영화 제작을 시작한다.
④ 북한에서의 영화 제작
이들이 북한에서 만든 작품은 약 17편으로 알려져 있다. 가장 유명한 작품은 1985년작 괴수영화 <Pulgasari>로, 일본 특촬 기술자들까지 동원해 제작되었다.
이 시기 두 사람은 외견상 ‘환대받는 예술가’였지만, 실질적으로는 탈출이 불가능한 통제된 삶을 살았다. 김정일은 이들에게 자유를 주는 듯하면서도 완전한 감시를 유지했다.
⑤ 탈출
1986년, 오스트리아 빈에서 열린 영화 관련 행사에 참석한 두 사람은 경호의 틈을 타 미국 대사관으로 뛰어들어 망명에 성공한다. 이 사건은 국제적 뉴스가 된다.
이후 두 사람은 미국과 한국에서 다시 활동하지만, 북한 체제 안에서의 경험은 그들의 삶을 영원히 바꾸어 놓았다.
3. 다큐의 특징
이 작품의 강점은 다음과 같다.
실제 녹음 테이프 사용
신상옥과 최은희가 김정일과의 대화를 몰래 녹음한 자료가 공개된다. 이는 납치의 실체를 입증하는 핵심 증거였다.김정일의 영화관
단순한 정치 독재자가 아니라, ‘영화에 미친 권력자’라는 측면을 조명한다.피해자 서사의 복합성
두 사람은 단순한 희생자가 아니라, 체제 안에서 전략적으로 협력하며 생존한 존재였다.
4. 평론
① 예술과 권력의 관계
이 다큐가 던지는 가장 큰 질문은 이것이다.
예술은 권력으로부터 얼마나 자유로운가?
김정일은 영화를 선전 도구로 보았지만, 동시에 예술적 완성도에도 집착했다. 그는 단순한 선전물이 아니라 ‘잘 만든 영화’를 원했다. 여기서 아이러니가 발생한다.
예술을 사랑하는 독재자.
그러나 그 사랑은 자유가 아닌 통제를 통해 구현된다.
이는 현대 사회에서도 유효한 질문이다. 자본 권력 아래의 예술은 얼마나 독립적인가? 국가주의 아래의 예술은 무엇을 잃는가?
② 피해자와 공모의 경계
신상옥과 최은희는 납치 피해자였다. 그러나 북한에서 수년간 영화를 제작했다는 점 때문에 일부에서는 “자발적 협력 아니었는가?”라는 의문도 제기되었다.
다큐는 이 단순한 도덕 판단을 거부한다.
강제된 환경 속에서 생존 전략으로 협력하는 것은 공모인가, 저항인가?
이 질문은 세진님이 자주 탐구하는 식민지기 협력 문제와도 닿는다. 구조 속에서 개인의 선택은 얼마나 자유로운가? 생존을 위한 타협은 역사적으로 어떻게 평가되어야 하는가?
③ 김정일의 인간적 초상
이 다큐는 김정일을 악마화하지도, 미화하지도 않는다. 그는 영화광이었고, 카리스마적이며, 동시에 냉혹한 권력자였다.
그는 문화적 열등감을 느끼는 북한 체제를 영화로 보완하려 했다. 국제영화제에서 인정받고 싶어 했다.
이는 북한 체제의 문화정치학을 이해하는 중요한 단서다.
권력은 단지 군사·경제적 힘만이 아니라, ‘상징 자본’을 갈망한다.
④ 사랑 이야기인가, 정치 이야기인가?
제목에 ‘Lovers’가 들어가 있지만, 이 영화는 로맨스가 중심은 아니다.
그러나 두 사람의 관계는 정치적 감금 상황에서 재결합한다. 외부 세계와 단절된 상황에서, 과거의 상처보다 생존이 우선이 된다.
이 점은 매우 인간적이다.
사랑은 자유 속에서만 존재하는가?
아니면 위기 속에서 더 응집되는가?
5. 한계
북한 내부 시각 부족
북한 영화인이나 주민의 관점은 거의 나오지 않는다.망명 이후의 삶은 상대적으로 짧게 다뤄진다.
정치적 맥락보다 개인 드라마에 더 집중한다는 인상도 있다.
6. 종합 평가
<The Lovers & the Despot>는 단순한 납치 실화 다큐가 아니다.
이 작품은 다음과 같은 주제를 동시에 다룬다.
예술과 권력
사랑과 생존
독재와 문화정치
강제 협력의 윤리
체제 속 개인의 선택
세진님이 지속적으로 탐구해 오신 “구조와 개인의 책임”, “권력과 기억”, “이념과 인간성”이라는 문제의식과도 깊이 연결된다.
특히 북한 체제 연구를 단순한 악마화나 선전화로 접근하지 않고, 문화적 욕망과 상징 권력의 측면에서 조명한다는 점에서 의미가 있다.
결론
이 다큐는 한 문장으로 요약할 수 있다.
영화를 사랑한 독재자와, 자유를 갈망한 예술가들 사이에서, 예술은 살아남을 수 있었는가?
답은 단순하지 않다.
예술은 살아남았지만, 자유는 끝까지 보장되지 않았다.
그리고 그 긴장 속에서, 인간은 생존을 택했다.
이 작품은 정치 다큐이면서 동시에 인간 드라마다.
그리고 무엇보다, 권력과 예술의 위험한 밀착을 보여주는 현대적 우화다.
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Abduction of Shin Sang-ok and Choi Eun-hee
| Abduction of Shin Sang-ok and Choi Eun-hee | |
|---|---|
| Part of the North Korean abductions of South Koreans | |
 | |
| Native name | 신상옥·최은희 납치 사건 |
| Location | Abduction: Hong Kong Confinement: North Korea[a] |
| Date | 1978 – March 13, 1986[2] |
| Target | Shin Sang-ok |
Attack type | Kidnapping |
| Perpetrator | Kim Jong Il |
| Motive | To improve North Korean cinema |
The abduction of Shin Sang-ok and Choi Eun-hee occurred in North Korea between 1978 and 1986. Shin Sang-ok was a famous South Korean filmmaker who had been married to actress Choi Eun-hee. Together, they established Shin Film and made many films through the 1960s which garnered recognition for South Korea at various film festivals.[3] In January 1978, Choi was abducted in Hong Kong and taken to North Korea to the country's future supreme leader Kim Jong Il.[4] The abduction of Shin followed six months later.
After three years in prison, Shin was united with Choi. The two were instructed by Kim Jong Il to make films for him to gain global recognition for North Korea's film industry.[5] Shin directed seven films for Kim from 1984 until 1985: An Emissary of No Return, Love, Love, My Love ; Runaway, Breakwater, Salt, The Tale of Shim Chong, and most famously, Pulgasari. In 1986, Choi and Shin escaped from North Korean supervision to the US embassy while in Vienna.[6] Under Kim's orders, Shin's films were banned in North Korea thereupon.[7]
Kim Jong Il and film
Kim Jong Il joined the Propaganda and Agitation Department in 1966 and soon became director of the Motion Picture and Arts Division.[8] He was a big fan of films, with a library of 15,000 at his disposal. As director, he reached the public with films and operas homogeneous in theme: pride in the nation and specifically in Kim Il Sung.
Charles K. Armstrong writes in his book, Tyranny of the Weak: North Korea and the World 1950–1992, that "Kim took North Korean arts in a direction that seemed specifically designed to ensure his father's favor: under his guidance, new films and operas focused as never before on the anti-Japanese struggle of Kim Il Sung and his comrades in Manchuria during the 1930s".[9]
Kim Jong Il was frustrated with his films in the early 1970s. He could tell that in contrast to the other films being released globally, his were stiff and lifeless. His diagnosis was a lack of enthusiasm from his actors and crew. Bradley K. Martin, author of Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader: North Korea and the Kim Dynasty, explains this while quoting a 1983 tape recording of Kim: "The difference, he suggested, was that North Korean film industry people knew that the state would feed them even if they performed only minimally, so they didn't try hard... 'Because they have to earn money,' Kim said, Southern movie industry people expended blood, sweat, and tears to get results."[10]
He needed fresh and passionate voices that would advance North Korean cinema. In the grand scale of Kim Jong Il's plan, further excerpts from the recording went as follows: "If we continually show Western films on television, show them without restraint, then only nihilistic thoughts can come about... all those things, patriotism, patriotism – we have to increase this, but we only make them idolize Western things... So we must advance the technology before opening... thus, because of this, I want to give rights to a limited degree."[11]
Capture
On January 11, 1978, actress Choi Eun-hee traveled to Hong Kong having been offered to direct a film, with the possibility of running a performing academy in a Hong Kong school.[12] According to an April 1984 report by South Korea's Agency for National Security Planning (ANSP), Choi was abducted by North Korean agents in Hong Kong on January 14, 1978.[13] She was taken from Repulse Bay and arrived in Nampo Harbor, North Korea, on January 22, 1978. She was housed in a luxury villa called Building Number 1.[14] Choi toured the city and was shown both Pyongyang and Kim Il Sung's birthplace, among other landmarks and museums.[15] She was later given a private tutor, who instructed her on the life and achievements of Kim Il Sung. Kim Jong Il took her to movies, operas, musicals, and parties. He asked her opinion on various films and respected her perspective. She was not informed that she had been kidnapped as bait for Shin until five years after her capture.[16]
After Choi disappeared, Shin Sang-ok began searching for her. They had been divorced and Shin had another family at that time. Shin had also been struggling with the South Korean government because his film license for Shin Studios had been revoked. He had been traveling the world hoping for one of his films to be greenlit. Six months after Choi's capture, Shin was kidnapped by North Korean operatives while he was staying in Hong Kong.[17] ANSP stated that Shin's abduction began on July 19. Though he was also given lavish accommodations, he initially was not told about the capture of Choi. After two failed escape attempts, he was sent to prison for disobedience. On February 23, 1983, Shin received a letter saying he was to be released from jail. On March 7, 1983, Shin and Choi were reunited at a party hosted by Kim Jong Il.[18]
Films
Shin and Choi were shown Kim Jong Il's vast personal film library, which reportedly consisted of over 15,000 films from around the world. The couple was instructed to watch and critique four films per day. The majority of films were from the communist bloc, though there were also the occasional Hollywood films. Shin and Choi displayed respect for Kim's film knowledge and perspective. Eventually, Kim shared how he wanted Shin to direct a film and enter it into an international contest. Shin would have an office at Choson Film Studios in Pyongyang.[3] Kim was aware that the internal propaganda slant of his films might not appeal to an international audience and garner spots in international contests, so he allowed Shin to broaden the subject material and select themes that would be more acceptable abroad.[5] Shin began work on 20 October 1983.[3] Shin and Choi won an award for one of their films at a festival in Czechoslovakia. The final and most expensive film that they made under Kim Jong Il was called Pulgasari, which was heavily influenced by the recently popular Godzilla films.[3]
All of the films Shin and Choi worked on in North Korea were banned upon their escape.[7] According to Shin's obituary in Munhwa Ilbo in 2006, the seven films Shin directed in North Korea are considered milestones in the history of Korean cinema, especially Pulgasari since it later became the first North Korean film to be shown in South Korean theaters.[19]
Their films included the following:
- An Emissary of No Return (Doraoji annun milsa, 1984): Based on a stage play called Bloody Conference written by Kim Il Sung. In the film, Ri Jun, a Korean emissary at The Hague International Peace Conference in 1907 tries to convince the international community to help reverse the Japanese-Korean Protective Treaty of 1905, which left Korea under Japanese leadership. Ri Jun delivers a speech at the conference and when he fails to win support from the Western powers, he commits hara-kiri in front of the diplomats. Shin shot sections of the film in Czechoslovakia and used European actors, something never done before in North Korean cinema.[20]
- Love, Love, My Love (Sarang sarang nae sarang, 1984): A take on the ancient Korean folk tale, The Tale of Chunhyang. The film was shot as a musical and featured a first in North Korean cinema, a slightly veiled kiss between the two leading actors. Chunhyang falls in love with Mongnyong, a wealthy aristocrat, but he must leave to the capital to train to be a government official. While he is gone, a new governor takes over the province and falls for Chunhyang. When rejected, he imprisons her. Just before she is about to be executed, Mongnyong returns to save her.[20]
- Runaway (Talchulgi, 1984): A story set in the 1920s in the Japanese colonial period. Protagonist Song-ryul and his wife (played by Choi Eun-hee) live in poverty. The family moves to the Gando area of Manchuria looking for a better life, but their suffering persists. Song-ryul joins the ranks of the Kim Il Sung group and once he is with the guerrillas, he blows up a Japanese army train.[20]
- Breakwater (Bangpaje, 1985): Bangpaje (Korean: 방파제, Breakwater) is a 1985 North Korean film directed by South Korean filmmaker Shin Sang-ok during the period of his abduction in North Korea. The film is one of several works Shin made under the supervision of Kim Jong-il and was produced by the state-run Shin Film studio. Bangpaje is known to depict the construction of the Nampo Sea Barrage on North Korea's west coast. According to Shin Sang-ok and Choi Eun-hee's 2001 memoir, the film centers on workers and engineers tasked with closing off “20 ri” of open sea in order to build the massive breakwater.[21] The narrative emphasizes collective labor, industrial heroism, and dedication to socialist construction. Model workers, technicians, and Party officials confront natural obstacles and technical failures as they attempt to complete the barrage. The breakwater itself serves as the film's central symbolic element, representing the triumph of human organization and ideological resolve over nature.[21] Detailed scene-level descriptions, character lists, and specific dramatic developments are unknown because the film has never been made available for public viewing outside North Korea. Bangpaje was produced during the period in which Shin Sang-ok and actress Choi Eun-hee were held in North Korea (1978–1986). During this time Shin directed a series of films intended to improve North Korean cinema under Kim Jong-il's guidance.[22] The film appears in primary-source filmographies compiled by Shin and Choi after their escape, where it is listed alongside works such as An Emissary of No Return, Salt, Love, Love, My Love, Shimcheong, and Pulgasari.[23] Bangpaje is considered an unavailable film. Film scholars note that unlike several of Shin's other North Korean productions, it has never circulated and cannot be viewed in archives or public collections.[24] As a result, academic writing on the film relies solely on memoir descriptions and filmographic records rather than visual analysis. No contemporary reviews or public responses are documented, as the film was not released for general viewing and remains inaccessible Unlike the other movies, this was not available for public viewing, but was directed between Runaway and Salt.
- [25]Salt (Sogum, 1985): A story set in Gando in the 1930s. In the film, Choi Eun-hee plays Song-ryul's wife. The family hides a wealthy Korean-Chinese merchant, and the father is killed in a fight between the Japanese police and the Chinese bandits. She believes that her husband died because of the communists. Then Choi, in poverty, asks for the Korean-Chinese merchant's help, but he rapes her. After a series of tragedies, a neighbor tells her about a lucrative illegal business: smuggling salt. While she is smuggling salt, the group she is with is attacked by the Japanese, and a communist group saves her. She discovers that the communists were actually the ones fighting for the common people and sets out to join them. Choi won best actress at the Moscow International Film Festival for this role.[20]
- The Tale of Shim Chong (Simcheongjeon, 1985): Shin directed a musical version of this classic tale of filial piety. Shim Chong lives with her blind father. She sacrifices herself so that his blindness can be cured, so she is taken by merchant sailors. They toss her overboard and she goes down to the palace of the God of the Sea. She is put back on land inside of a giant floating orchid. She is found by the king, and they fall in love and are married. In the end, Shim Chong is reunited with her father, and he is healed of his blindness.[20]
- Pulgasari (1985): This film was heavily influenced by the popular Godzilla films at the time. It is about a farmers' uprising in medieval Korea. A little girl pricks her finger while sewing, and the blood falls on a little toy of a monster made out of rice, causing it to come to life as a monster. It fights for the farmers and smashes the emperor's palace. Nevertheless, his appetite is so big that he starts eating the farmers' tools, so the girl who spawned it decides to sacrifice herself by disguising herself as Pulgasari's food. When the monster accidentally eats the girl, he explodes and dies.[20]
Escape
To defend themselves should they ever escape North Korea, Choi and Shin decided to sneak in a tape recorder to their conversations with Kim Jong Il so they would have proof that they did not willingly leave the South. In one conversation recorded on October 19, 1983, Kim spoke openly about his plot to kidnap Shin and Choi to upgrade North Korea's film industry. He told Shin and Choi that it would be best if they spoke to the press saying that they came to North Korea voluntarily.[3] Shin and Choi attended a press conference on April 12, 1984, in Belgrade, Yugoslavia where they said they were in North Korea by their own choosing.
After finishing Pulgasari, the two were in talks with Kim about another film when they took a trip to Vienna in 1986. Kim had requested Choi and Shin travel to the Austrian city to find someone that would finance a biographical film about Genghis Khan.[26] On March 12, 1986, the couple checked into the InterContinental Vienna to meet a journalist named Akira Enoki under the pretense of an interview, and convinced their North Korean bodyguards to leave the room.[26] Choi and Shin managed to get into a taxi and, after being chased by the North Koreans into traffic congestion, the pair got out of the taxi and sprinted into the United States embassy.[27] The New York Times posted an article on March 22, 1986, announcing that the couple got away from their North Korean caretakers and sought political asylum in the US embassy.[28]
Following their escape, Shin lived in the United States for many years working in the film industry before returning home to South Korea. North Korea issued a statement denying the claims that Shin and Choi had been kidnapped and instead maintained that Shin and Choi had voluntarily defected to North Korea[6] and claimed they embezzled a large amount of North Korean money intended to finance the Genghis Khan film.[28]
Recent accounts
After the release of Paul Fischer's book, A Kim Jong-Il Production, in 2015, the abduction of Shin Sang-ok and Choi Eun-hee piqued the interest of those outside Korea. Vanity Fair documented a screening of Pulgasari in Brooklyn, New York, in April 2015.[7] The Washington Post suspects a film will be made retelling the story.[29] BBC Radio Four broadcast a 90-minute dramatisation in September 2017.[30]
In January 2016, at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, in the World Cinema Documentary Competition, a documentary about the North Korean ordeal, entitled The Lovers and the Despot and directed by Robert Cannan and Ross Adam, was presented.
The French TV mini-series, Kim Kong, produced by Arte, written by Simon Jablonka and Alexis Le Sec, directed by Stephen Cafiero and starring Jonathan Lambert, is based upon these events.[31]
Notes
- Shin also traveled abroad during his abduction, but remained under North Korean surveillance. According to Teruyoshi Nakano, the special effects director of Shin's last North Korean production Pulgasari, "he kept going to other countries like Japan to figure out the best way to escape."[1]
See also
- Cinema of North Korea
- List of kidnappings
- Lists of solved missing person cases
- North Korean abductions of South Koreans
- On the Art of the Cinema
- Residences of North Korean leaders
References
- Homenick, Brett (June 26, 2019). "An Explosive Career! Toho SFX Director Teruyoshi Nakano Reflects on Some of His Non-Godzilla Films!". Vantage Point Interviews. Archived from the original on July 8, 2019. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
- Yoon, Min-sik (May 17, 2023). "[Korean History] Operation Vienna: Filmmakers' perilous escape from clutches of North Korea". The Korea Herald. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
- Fischer, Paul (2015). A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator's Rise to Power. Flatiron Books. ISBN 978-1250054265.
- Martin, Bradley K. (2004). Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader. New York: Thomas Dunne Books. p. 326. ISBN 0-312-32221-6.
- Martin, Bradley K. (2004). Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader. New York: Thomas Dunne Books. p. 334. ISBN 0-312-32221-6.
- Armstrong, Charles K. (2013). Tyranny of the Weak: North Korea and the World, 1950–1992. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. p. 238 ISBN 080-146-893-0.
- Romano, N. (April 6, 2015). "How Kim Jong Il Kidnapped a Director, Made a Godzilla Knockoff, and Created a Cult Hit". Vanity Fair.
- Armstrong, Charles K. (2013). Tyranny of the Weak: North Korea and the World, 1950–1992. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. p. 210 ISBN 080-146-893-0.
- Armstrong, Charles K. (2013). Tyranny of the Weak: North Korea and the World, 1950–1992. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. p. 211 ISBN 080-146-893-0.
- Martin, Bradley K. (2004). Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader. New York: Thomas Dunne Books. p. 333. ISBN 0-312-32221-6.
- Martin, Bradley K. (2004). Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader. New York: Thomas Dunne Books. p. 336. ISBN 0-312-32221-6.
- Fischer, Paul (2015). A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator's Rise to Power. Flatiron Books. pp. 84, 86 ISBN 978-1250054265.
- "국가안전기획부, 1978년 홍콩에서 실종된 영화배우 최은희와 영화감독 신상옥 납북 발표" [Agency for National Security Planning announces abduction of actress Choi Eun-hee and filmmaker Shin Sang-ok, who disappeared in Hong Kong in 1978, to North Korea]. The Dong-A Ilbo (in Korean). April 2, 1984. Retrieved December 15, 2024.
- Fischer, Paul (2015). A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator's Rise to Power. Flatiron Books. p. 96 ISBN 978-1250054265.
- Fischer, Paul (2015). A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator's Rise to Power. Flatiron Books. p. 113 ISBN 978-1250054265.
- Martin, Bradley K. (2004). Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader. New York: Thomas Dunne Books. p. 327. ISBN 0-312-32221-6.
- Fischer, Paul (2015). A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator's Rise to Power. Flatiron Books. p. 124 ISBN 978-1250054265.
- Martin, Bradley K. (2004). Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader. New York: Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN 0-312-32221-6.
- Park, Kyung-il (April 12, 2006). "故 신상옥 감독, 납북 → 탈북 → 망명… 영화같은 삶" [The late director Shin Sang-ok, kidnapped → defected → asylum... A life like a movie]. Munhwa Ilbo (in Korean). Archived from the original on December 27, 2024. Retrieved February 24, 2025.
- Schönherr, J. (2011). The North Korean Films of Shin Sang-ok Ritsumei.ac.jp
- Shin, Sang-ok; Choi, Eun-hee (2001). 우리의 탈출은 끝나지 않았다 [Our Escape Has Not Ended Yet] (in Korean). 월간 조선사.
- Fischer, Paul (2015). A Kim Jong-Il Production. Penguin. ISBN 978-0241004303.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: checksum (help) - Shin, Sang-ok; Choi, Eun-hee (1988). 조국은 저 하늘 저멀리 [My Motherland is Far Away], vol. 2 (in Korean). Pacific Artist Cooperation.
- Schönherr, Johannes (2012). North Korean Cinema: A History. McFarland. ISBN 978-0786468177.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: checksum (help) - Schönherr, J. (2012). North Korean Cinema: A History (Illustrated ed.). McFarland. pp. 85, 201, 211. ISBN 978-0786490523. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
- Fischer, Paul (2015-02-21). "Kim Jong-il and the great movie-star kidnap". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-07-06.
- Fischer, Paul (3 February 2015). A Kim Jong-Il production : the extraordinary true story of a kidnapped filmmaker, his star actress, and a young dictator's rise to power (First ed.). New York: Flatiron Books. p. 300. ISBN 978-1250054265. OCLC 881437062.
- "Rumors Reappear with South Korean Couple". The New York Times. 23 March 1986. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
- Martin, B. K. (January 30, 2015). "Book review: "A Kim Jong-Il Production,’ on filmmaking under duress, by Paul Fischer", The Washington Post.
- "Episode 1, Lights, Camera, Kidnap!". BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
- "France's finest". Dramaquarterly.com. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
Further reading
- Breen, Michael (2011). Kim Jong-il: North Korea's Dear Leader (2nd ed.). Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781118153796.
- Bärtås, Magnus; Ekman, Fredrik (2015). All Monsters Must Die: An Excursion to North Korea. Toronto: House of Anansi. ISBN 978-1-77089-881-3.
- Choi Eun-hee (2007). Ch'oe Ŭn-hŭi ŭi kobaek: yŏnghwa poda tŏ yŏnghwa kat'ŭn sam 최 은희 의 고백: 영화 보다 더 영화 같은 삶 [Confessions of Choi Eun-hee] (in Korean). Seoul: Random House Korea. ISBN 9788925513997.
- Fischer, Paul (2015). A Kim Jong-Il production: the extraordinary true story of a kidnapped filmmaker, his star actress, and a young dictator's rise to power (1st ed.). New York: Flatiron Books. ISBN 978-1-250-05426-5.
| Politics | |
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| Elections | |
| Books | |
| Family |
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| Related |
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- 1970s missing person cases
- 1978 in Hong Kong
- 1980s missing person cases
- Enforced disappearance
- Formerly missing people
- Missing South Korean people
- Hong Kong–South Korea relations
- Human rights abuses in North Korea
- Kidnappings in South Korea
- Married couples
- Missing person cases in Asia
- North Korean abductions
- Kim Jong Il
- Kidnapped South Korean people
- Cinema of North Korea
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