''Pulgasari'' () is a 1985 North Korean horror-

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

kaiju film directed by

Shin Sang-ok Shin Sang-ok ( ko, 신상옥; born Shin Tae-seo; October 11, 1926 – April 11, 2006) was a South Korean filmmaker with more than 100 producer and 70 director credits to his name. His best-known films were made in the 1950s and 60s, many of them ...

. It stars Chang Son Hui and Pak Sung Ho and features special effects by Duk Ho Kim, supervised by

Teruyoshi Nakano was a Japanese special effects director. Early life Nakano was born on in Andong Province, Andong, Manchukuo (now Dandong, Liaoning, China). His father worked for an affiliate of South Manchuria Railway called International Transport. His ...

. The film centers around the legend of the Bulgasari and is based on the lost 1962 film from South Korea of the same name. Director Shin had been kidnapped in 1978 by North Korean intelligence on the orders of

Kim Jong-il Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Kim ...

, son of the then-ruling

Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

and was coerced into making several films as a director, with ''Pulgasari'' being his final before he and his wife, actress

Choi Eun-hee Choi Eun-hee (; November 20, 1926 – April 16, 2018) was a South Korean actress, who was one of the country's most popular stars of the 1960s and 1970s. In 1978, Choi and her then ex-husband, movie director Shin Sang-ok, were abducted to North ...

, escaped to the United States.Backrow Banter
The Dear Leader, The Director And The Director’s Wife
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Plot

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a wa ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, during the

Goryeo Dynasty Goryeo (; ) was a Korean kingdom founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korean Peninsula until 1392. Goryeo achieved what has been called a "true national unificati ...

, a king controls the land with an iron fist, subjecting the peasantry to misery and starvation. An old

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

who was sent to prison for defending his people creates a tiny figurine of a monster by making a doll of rice and before dying asks the gods of earth and sky to make his creation a living creature that protects the rebels and the oppressed. When the figurine comes into contact with the blood of the blacksmith's daughter, the creature springs to life, becoming a giant metal-eating monster whom the blacksmith's daughter names Pulgasari, which is the name of the mythical monster her father used to mention as an eater of iron and steel. Pulgasari now shares a special bond with the blacksmith's daughter, and after he starts eating some of the farmer's tools, becomes a giant and powerful figure. After much suffering, the peasants form an army, storm the palace of the region's Governor and kill him. Soon after the evil king becomes aware that there is a rebellion being planned in the country and he intends to crush it, but he runs into Pulgasari, who fights with the peasant army to overthrow the corrupt

monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy) ...

. Pulgasari wins many battles because of his unending hunger for all kind of metal, readily provided by its enemies. Nevertheless, after capturing and executing the leader of the rebellion (who was also the future husband of the blacksmith's daughter), the king's army threatens to kill the blacksmith's daughter if Pulgasari does not surrender. Pulgasari lets itself be trapped to save the woman, and the royal army apparently kills the creature by burying it under the ground. After escaping, the blacksmith's daughter revives Pulgasari by again pouring some of her blood on the burial site. Pulgasari grows strong once more and attacks the king's palace, destroying it and simultaneously killing the king. After the defeat of the king, Pulgasari becomes a new problem, since he starts eating the rebel's weapons and farmer's tools, which are given to the creature without objection, since the peasants still believe Pulgasari is a benign savior. The blacksmith's daughter realizes that Pulgasari's hunger will never stop, and that he is inadvertently oppressing the people he fought for. She decides to sacrifice herself by hiding inside a big bell that Pulgasari finds and quickly eats. Pulgasari yells in anguish as the blacksmith's daughter's presence in its system causes it to turn to stone and crumble into pieces, tragically killing both of them, but saving the people once and for all.

Cast

* Chang Son Hui as Ami * Ham Gi Sop as Inde * Jong-uk Ri as Ana * Gwon Ri as Takse * Gyong-ae Yu as Inde's Mother * Hye-chol Ro as Inde's Brother * Sang-hun Tae as Rebel Forces * Gi-chon Kim as Rebel Forces * In-chol Ri as Rebel Forces * Riyonun Ri as General Fuan * Yong-hok Pak as The King * Pong-ilk Pak as The Governor *

Kenpachiro Satsuma , born is a Japanese actor who portrayed Godzilla in the Heisei films, from 1984 to 1995. Born in Kagoshima Prefecture, Satsuma began his acting career in the 1960s with small roles in samurai films. In 1971 he was offered the role of the smog mo ...

as Pulgasari * "Little Man Machan" as Baby Pulgasari

Background

The film is based around a legendary creature called the "Pulgasari" (or "Bulgasari"). The original story was set in the city of Songdo (now

Kaesong Kaesong (, ) is a special city in the southern part of North Korea (formerly in North Hwanghae Province), and the capital of Korea during the Taebong kingdom and subsequent Goryeo dynasty. The city is near the Kaesong Industrial Region close t ...

, North Korea).

Production

The film was a loose remake of a lost 1962 film directed by Kim Myeong-je, which is believed to be the first Korean kaiju film, predating ''

Yongary, Monster from the Deep ''Yongary, Monster from the Deep'' (, ) is a 1967 kaiju, ''kaiju'' film directed by Kim Ki-duk (director, born 1934), Kim Ki-duk, with special effects by Kenichi Nakagawa. The film was a Cinema of South Korea, South Korean-Cinema of Japan, Japanese ...

'' and ''

Space Monster, Wangmagwi ''Space Monster Wangmagwi'' () is a 1967 South Korean ''kaiju'' film. It is the oldest surviving giant monster film to be made in South Korea and one of the all-Korean made science fiction film. It features a space variation on the plot to King K ...

'' by five years. Kim Jong-il was a lifelong admirer of the director, as well as ''

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film ''Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produc ...

'' and other

kaiju films is a Japanese media genre that focuses on stories involving giant monsters. The word ''kaiju'' can also refer to the giant monsters themselves, which are usually depicted attacking major cities and battling either the military or other monster ...

. He kidnapped the former director Shin Sang-ok and his wife, famous actress

, with the specific purpose of making fantasy/

propaganda film A propaganda film is a film that involves some form of propaganda. Propaganda films spread and promote certain ideas that are usually religious, political, or cultural in nature. A propaganda film is made with the intent that the viewer will ad ...

s for the North Korean government. Kim also produced ''Pulgasari'' (through Korean Film Studio) and all the films that Shin made before he and Choi managed to escape from their minders while on a festival tour in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. Specifically, the film was inspired by ''

The Return of Godzilla is a 1984 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Koji Hashimoto, with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano. The film features the fictional monster character Godzilla. Distributed by Toho and produced under their subsidiary Toho Pictures, it is th ...

''. The staff from

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Toho Studios is a Japanese film production company that is a subsidiary of Toho Co., Ltd. Founded in November 8, 1971 as , the company originally served as a spin-off of Toho's original production department, and produced over 160 films. In December 2020, ...

, the creators of ''Godzilla'', participated in creating the film's

special effects Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual wor ...

. They were tricked into coming as they thought they were filming in China.

Jonathan Ross Jonathan Stephen Ross (born 17 November 1960) is an English broadcaster, film critic, comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He presented the BBC One chat show ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' during the 2000s, hosted his own radio show on ...

stated that the film was intended by the North Korean government to be a

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...

for the effects of unchecked

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...

and the power of the

collective A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together to achieve a common objective. Collectives can differ from cooperatives in that they are not necessarily focused upon an ...

Legacy

was quoted as saying he preferred ''Pulgasari'' to TriStar's ''

''. There has been some speculation that the director Shin Sang-ok included a hidden message of his own in the film; the monster of the movie was to be interpreted as both a metaphor for Kim Il-sung betraying a people's revolution for his own purposes and as a plea to the North Korean people to rise up against the Kim regime, represented by Pulgasari demanding his subjects fed him more and more iron farming equipment even after the former regime has been defeated, leading to the workers turning against and ultimately defeating their former savior. After finding out that his credit was removed from the movie, Shin Sang-ok wrote a remake called '' The Adventures of Galgameth'' in 1996. ''Pulgasari'' became the first North Korean film to be released in South Korean theaters in 2000. Ten years later in 2006, ''Pulgasari'' made its New York debut at the end of

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Japanese culture center's year-long "Godzilla festival."

Shin Sang-ok and Choi Eun-hee's story

''Pulgasari'' has gained some popularity over the years because of the shocking story of

and

kidnapping In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...

at the hands of North Korea's government. During their strange captivity in the country, Shin and Choi were, respectively, director and leading actress in a number of North Korean films produced by

. The director and leading actress made together a total of seven films, for which the couple – who were separated before their kidnapping – was simultaneously commissioned and forced to do by North Korea's government. ''Pulgasari'' was made in 1985, the same year that Shin's North Korean films ''

Salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

'' and '' The Tale of Shim Chong'' were released. It was the last film directed by Shin before he and Choi escaped to the United States.

References

External links

*
N. Korean movies' propaganda role

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