History. Nonfiction. HTML:Before becoming the worldâ??s most notorious dictator, Kim Jong-Il ran North Koreaâ??s Ministry for Propaganda and its film studios. Conceiving every movie made, he acted as producer and screenwriter. Despite this control, he was underwhelmed by the available talent and took drastic steps, ordering the kidnapping of Choi Eun-Hee (Madam Choi)â??South Koreaâ??s most famous actressâ??and her ex-husband Shin Sang-Ok, the countryâ??s most famous filmmaker.
Madam Choi vanished first. When Shin went to Hong Kong to investigate, he was attacked and woke up wrapped in plastic sheeting aboard a ship bound for North Korea. Madam Choi lived in isolated luxury, allowed only to attend the Dear Leaderâ??s dinner parties. Shin, meanwhile, tried to escape, was sent to prison camp, and "re-educated." After four years he cracked, pledging loyalty. Reunited with Choi at the first party he attends, it is announced that the couple will remarry and act as the Dear Leaderâ??s film advisors. Together they made seven films, in the process gaining Kim Jong-Ilâ??s trust. While pretending to research a film in Vienna, they flee to the U.S. embassy and are swept to safety.
A nonfiction thriller packed with tension, passion, and politics, A Kim Jong-Il Production offers a rare glimpse into a secretive world, illuminating a fascinating chapter of North Koreaâ??s history that helps explain how it became the hermetically sealed, intensely stage-man