The Lovers and the Despot -- Film Review

The Lovers and the Despot

Directed by Ross Adam and Robert Cannan

This film is about political intrigue.  It purports to represent a true story.  It is always hard to tell what "true" means when you're dealing with an autocratic police state.  Before we get in to that I will say that the film is a little hard to follow at the beginning.  This is about Koreans who are unfamiliar to a provincial American like me.  They are introduced rather abruptly and without a lot of depth.  I found myself struggling to sort out what was going on at first and decipher who was who.  There are three important characters that emerge as the film plays out:  Kim Jong-il, Choi Eun-hee, and Shin Sang-ok.  But at first it is hard to get a handle on who these people are and how they are related.  Shin was an ambitious Korean film maker and Choi was a star in his films.  They got married, adopted some children, and made a lot of films together.  Shin got interested in a younger woman at some point, they divorced, and then it gets interesting.  Incidentally, the young woman who precipitated Choi's and Shin's divorce drops out of the picture without comment. 

What happens is that Choi Eun-hee gets kidnapped by North Korean intelligence agents in Hong Kong and is taken surreptitiously to North Korea.  From the western point of view, she simply vanished without a trace.  I think this retelling is probably true, that is, the kidnapping part.  I don't think Choi Eun-hee had any idea what was happening to her.  Whether Shin might have had a hand in orchestrating this kidnapping of his ex-wife with the North Koreans I wonder about.   It is possible, but the film does not consider that possibility and makes it appear unlikely.  Later on, her ex-husband, Shin Sang-ok, is also kidnapped and whisked to North Korea.  He is kept in prison for five years.  He attempts an escape, is recaptured and put in solitary confinement until he comes to see things differently, after which he is reunited with Choi Eun-hee and becomes partners with Kim Jong-il in making movies.   I'm not sure how much of this I believe.  It has some plausibility, but there may be a lot more to it than we are being given.  These are all people who are masters of illusion and masquerade and storytelling.  Shin was an operator as was Kim Jong-il, so it is hard to tell what negotiations might have gone on outside the script of this film.  All we know is that this is the story they are telling us, and all of the principals have an interest in presenting the story in a certain way.  The filmmakers did not take a critical approach to their retelling.  They are giving us mostly Choi Eun-hee's version of events. 

The most interesting aspect of this whole affair and the driving force in the film is also the least explored, namely, Kim Jong-il.  His obsession with films, his desire to see North Korea generate great films that would be recognized and admired in the West is one of the few flashes of authenticity and personal honesty in a society where almost all expressions of authentic personal sentiment are squelched.  His interest and motivation is clearly not strictly propaganda and promotion for the North Korean regime.  He had that kind of a film industry and he despised it.  He didn't want self aggrandizement, but genuine art, so he kidnapped the two people he felt were best suited to do it.  And they struck a deal -- after he made them an offer they couldn't refuse.  This was the most intriguing part of the story and the part I don't really get. 

They point out that Kim Jong-il was raised in isolation and not allowed to have friends or playmates as a child.  He probably retreated into a world of fantasy and like many people who become obsessed with films lived an ersatz life through the characters and stories seen on the screen.  In another time and place he might have become a film director or a producer.  This story is an attempt to act out that fantasy.  It suggests an avenue into the secluded heart and soul of Kim Jong-il, but they don't take this tack in the film. 

Shin got what he had always wanted, namely, unlimited budgets to make the kind of films he envisioned.  And he achieved international recognition, at least in Europe.  They continued with this film making partnership for eight years and then for reasons that are unspecified Shin and Choi pulled off an escape in Vienna and turned themselves in to the American Embassy seeking asylum.  I think there is a lot more to this than what we are presented with.  What this film offers is a digest, almost a public relations piece, that features Choi Eun-hee's point of view.  Shin did not do well in Hollywood after defecting to the West.  Maybe he should have stayed in North Korea.  He died in 2006.  The circumstances of his death are not explored either.  The story is interesting and there is a lot about it that remains mysterious.  This film is not a full and complete treatment of this subject by any means.  I think a book would be a better way to approach this story.

I don't think this film will be popular with Americans because these Korean film people are unknown here and Shin's films are not the sort that would get any traction with American audiences.  I am sure the film would get a lot more response in Korea, but it is mostly in English with a decidedly American slant.  The story is fascinating, but I found Kim Jong-il the most interesting of all the characters presented.  Unfortunately, they weren't able to interview him for the film.