The biggest movie in North Korean history is a monster movie based on classic kaiju movies called Pulgasari. Filmed in 1985, it was mostly the brainchild of director and producer Shin Sang-ok. It is a crazy movie, about a group of villagers who team up with a Godzilla-like monster to overthrow their country’s tyrannical leader. It is, of course, steeped in anti-West, anti-South Korea messaging, as you would expect, but as B-movies go, it’s not half bad. It’s gone on to achieve a little bit of cult following around the world, especially in Japan.
There is so much more to the story, though.
The Kidnapping That Led To North Korea’s Film Industry
As the heir apparent to his father, Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong Il was already quite powerful in the late 1970s in North Korea. The younger Kim also loved movies. He reportedly had thousands of films in his personal library and was especially fond of movies from the West, the U.S., and the U.K. He also loved classic Japanese monster movies. As a lover of movies, he set out to build a North Korean film industry in the 1970s.
At first, Kim was reportedly unhappy with the results, so he hatched a plan to do something only the son of a dictator would think to do: kidnap two of South Korea’s biggest stars, filmmaker Shin Sang-ok and his wife, actress Choi Eun-hee. Choi, one of South Korea’s biggest stars, was kidnapped from Hong Kong in 1978 after being tricked into traveling to the then-British protectorate with a job offer.
Six months later, Shin Sang-ok was searching for his then-ex-wife in Hong Kong when he was also snatched up by the North Korean regime. Like Choi, he was taken back to North Korea. After two escape attempts, he was sent to prison for five years. He was finally reunited with Choi after his release in 1983 at a party hosted by the younger Kim.
Making Movies For The Dictator’s Son
Kim soon began talking about films with the two South Korean prisoners, and by 1984. Shin and Choi were making them for the regime. Of course, most had a strong state-sponsored message, but Shin did manage to convince Kim to allow him to broaden the subjects to give more international appeal. That is what led directly to Pulgasari.
Production on the monster movie began in early 1985, and it included the use of an incredible 13,000 extras for some scenes, many of whom came from the North Korean army. Shin was basically given carte blanche, and in the neighborhood of $3 million (US) to make a movie inspired by Godzilla. Kim even enlisted the Japanese special effects house, Toho, to work on the movie.
Today, Pulgasari Is A Cult Classic
It’s unclear if Pulgasari was ever released in North Korea; there are conflicting reports. Some sources claim the movie was a hit in its home country, others say it was put on ice by Kim, along with Shin’s six other films produced under the regime, after Shin and Choi escaped North Korea during a trip to Vienna in 1986.
A decade later, long after Choi and Shin’s escape, the movie was released in Japan, first on VHS in 1995, then in theaters in the summer of 1998, and it became a hit. The success prompted distributors to release the movie in South Korea, though it bombed badly, likely due to understandable bias by the South Korean public towards the North.
The film occasionally shows up as part of underground film festivals around the country, but is not available, as yet, on any American streaming services. A little bit of internet searching, though, and it’s easy enough to find. It’s not the best movie ever made, by any means, but it is a fascinating look into a culture we understand little of in the West.