Watch The Lovers & the Despot

The Lovers & the Despot is a gripping and fascinating documentary that delves into the story of South Korean director Shin Sang-ok and his actress wife, Choi Eun-hee, who were kidnapped by North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il in the late 1970s. Through interviews with Choi Eun-hee herself, as well as with Shin Sang-ok's son and others who were involved in the events, the film paints a vivid picture of the couple's harrowing ordeal, their eventual escape to freedom, and the lasting impact of their experience on the film industry.

The film opens with Choi Eun-hee's narration of her early career in South Korea, where she was a beloved actress and producer with a successful film company. After her divorce from Shin Sang-ok, she was lured to Hong Kong on the premise of attending a film festival, but instead found herself kidnapped and brought to North Korea. Soon after, her ex-husband was also brought to the country at Kim Jong-il's behest. The two were held separately and interrogated for months, with Kim Jong-il eventually revealing himself as their captor.

As the documentary explains, Kim Jong-il was a man obsessed with cinema, and had a grand dream of creating a North Korean film industry that could compete with Hollywood. To that end, he decided to use the talents of Shin Sang-ok and Choi Eun-hee to make films for him, using them as "guest workers" to create lavish propaganda pieces that would showcase North Korea's supposed cultural prowess. Despite their understandable reluctance, the couple eventually agreed to work for Kim Jong-il, hoping that their cooperation would lead to their eventual release.

What follows is a surreal and haunting look at life in North Korea, as the couple is forced to work on propaganda films like Pulgasari, a Godzilla-esque monster movie that is still shown in North Korea to this day. As they attempt to find ways to smuggle messages to the outside world and plot their eventual escape, they grapple with the moral quandary of making art for a brutal dictator. Meanwhile, their personal relationship is strained by Shin Sang-ok's own growing fascination with the North Korean system, and by Choi Eun-hee's frustration with their situation.

One of the strengths of The Lovers & the Despot is how it manages to convey the strangeness and horror of the couple's experience without losing sight of their humanity. Choi Eun-hee, in particular, is a compelling and sympathetic figure, as she tries to navigate the treacherous waters of North Korean politics while also maintaining her sense of self. The film's archival footage adds to the sense of unreality, offering glimpses of a regime that is both meticulous and chaotic, brutal and absurd.

As the documentary draws to a close, it examines the aftermath of the couple's escape to South Korea, and the long-lasting impact of their time in North Korea on the film industry. Shin Sang-ok, in particular, struggled to find work after his return, as producers were wary of working with someone who had been associated with the North Korean regime. Choi Eun-hee, meanwhile, became an outspoken critic of the regime, using her platform to speak out about the dangers of Kim Jong-il's rule. Ultimately, The Lovers & the Despot is a powerful testament to the enduring power of art, even in the face of tyranny, and a chilling reminder of the lengths some will go to in order to control it.

The Lovers & the Despot is a 2017 documentary with a runtime of 1 hour and 38 minutes.