The most famous movie the Dear Leader made is called Pulgasari, and it’s a schlocktastic monster movie with heavy Communist overtones. The movie's hero and namesake is a Godzilla rip-off, who starts out as a doll, and then magically comes to life and grows into a huge monster after coming into contact with human blood. Pulgasari eats iron, and helps lead old-school Korean peasants to overthrow their corrupt king. Some heavy camp and propaganda, indeed.
The movie is famous for being incredibly awful. But it is more famous for having been made by a total wackjob dictator. But what is really interesting – and much weirder - is the back story of how the movie was made:
In the 1960’s and 70’s a guy named Shin Sang-ok was one of the most popular movie directors in South Korea. The Guardian likens him to a Korean Orson Welles. For a while Shin was married to an actress named Choi Eun-hee, who was also pretty famous in Korea. The couple got divorced in 1978. Shortly thereafter, Choi Eun-hee went to away to Hong Kong on a trip. And while she was there, she was unexpectedly kidnapped by North Korean spies. Nobody back home knew what had happened or why she had disappeared. So her ex-husband, Shin Sang-ok, went to Hong Kong to look for her. He soon found himself kidnapped by North Koreans as well, and then thrown into a car with a bag over his head. He was drugged into unconsciousness, and woke up in a North Korean jail. Shin and Choi realized they were in some really deep shit. They had no idea why they were there. They were separated, and they didn’t see each other for years.
Shin tried to escape to several times, and was sent to a North Korean prison camp for 4 years. He ate mostly grass, and could only wonder why the hell he was being held captive. He thought that Choi Eun-hee, his ex-wife, was dead. Then, one day, Shin was brought to a fancy party for high Party officials, where he was introduced to Kim Jong Il. Choi Eun-hee was there too. He was shocked to see her alive, and they were even more shocked when Kim Jong Il told the couple that they would be making movies for him now. The Dear Leader had lots of money to produce them, since he personally owned an entire country. Kim Jong Il complained that the Party-controlled filmmaking he supervised in Pyongyang had produced only mediocre results. This was why they had been mysteriously kidnapped. And so a succession of terrible North Korean films went into production.The world has always thought they were unbelievably horrible, and North Korea has always been proud of them. The most famous was Pulgasari.
After a few years, Shin began to be allowed to travel abroad, for film events and location shooting. An escape plan began to form in his mind. In 1986, after producing Pulgasari , he was allowed to fly to Vienna, Austria to set up a distribution deal for the film. Shin traveled fairly often at the time, but was always closely followed by North Korean agents. He took Choi Eun-hee to Vienna, and they fled to the American embassy in a taxi, with North Korean spies in hot pursuit in a second taxi. He made it into the embassy, was granted asylum, and never had to go back to Pyongyang. Shin lived in the US for a while, where in the 90's he directed such amazing movies as 3 Ninjas Kick Back and High Noon: 3 Ninjas at Mega Mountain. Shin Sang-ok died of liver problems in 2004.
Pulgasari is a famously terrible movie. But the strange and very true story of Shin Sang-ok would make a far, far better movie. I hope someday an ambitious filmmaker takes on the story. Read the full Guardian article about the case if you want more bizarre and sordid details.
And now you can watch Pulgasari, in all its blood-red Commie glory:
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