Watch The Lovers And The Despot

The Lovers and the Despot, released in 2016, is a documentary thriller directed by Robert Cannan and Ross Adam. The movie revolves around the fascinating story of South Korean director Shin Sang-ok and his ex-wife Choi Eun-hie, who were abducted in 1978 from Hong Kong and taken to North Korea to work for dictator Kim Jong-il. The film takes us through the lives of Shin Sang-ok and Choi Eun-hie before their kidnapping. Shin's movies had earned him immense fame and success, while Eun-hie was an actress who worked alongside him. However, their personal lives were turbulent, and their marriage was on the rocks. So, when Shin asked Eun-hie for a divorce, she agreed but continued to work with him.

It is then that North Korea's agents kidnapped the couple – a shocking revelation that was later proved to be a result of Kim Jong-il's personal fascination with cinema. The Lovers and the Despot offers an intriguing insight into the couple's emotional journey while being held captive in Kim's regime.

The couple was initially kept apart, and their professional relationship with Kim started in a series of clandestine meetings. Kim Jong-il himself, a renowned cinema enthusiast, was enchanted with Shin Sang-ok's work and wanted him to direct movies for his regime. The couple was given a luxurious home and access to unlimited resources, which, despite their initial resistance, they eventually gave in to for the sake of survival.

The movie illustrates how the couple's projects under Kim Jong-il's regime were merely propaganda tools. However, to their credit, they took it as an opportunity to subtly infuse their art with their own biting criticism of the regime. Shin Sang-ok directed films such as "Salt", "A Flower in Hell", and "Pulgasari", known as the North Korean Godzilla, which would be released internationally to much acclaim.

The Lovers and the Despot is not only about the couple's relationship with Kim, but also what this experience did to their personal relationship. The film depicts them performing plays and fake marriages in public to please their captors while secretly planning their escape. The harsh environment and the constant pressure of pleasing the dictator took its toll on their relationship.

The film also features interviews with people who were either involved directly or had an indirect connection with the couple's abduction. The interviews provide an astute perspective on the extent of Kim's control over the state apparatus during his reign. The documentary features archive footage, including Shing Sog-ok and Choi Eun-hie's 1983 daring escape to Vienna.

The Lovers and the Despot brings a chilling reality check to our perception of dictatorship regimes. It questions how much personal freedom we are willing to trade-off for the sake of our life, and whether compromising on our values is a price too high for survival. The movie also explores how artistic talent and freedom can thrive even under the most repressive regimes.

To conclude, The Lovers and the Despot is a captivating and stirring documentary that provides a unique perspective rarely seen before in cinema. The story of Shin Sang-ok and Choi Eun-hie is one of perseverance and artistic resilience, which will keep the viewers spellbound throughout the movie.

The Lovers And The Despot is a 2016 documentary with a runtime of 1 hour and 38 minutes. It has received mostly positive reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 6.5 and a MetaScore of 65.