-Eminem
Dictators have had a history of caring a little too much about cinema. I don't know why this is. Perhaps it is some childish power trip. Regardless, it has been consistent. As absurd as it may sound, Stalin was credited for every movie review written during his reign. The list of films banned under Stalin was so extensive it even included all of the propaganda films made under the leadership of Lenin. Whereas Hitler actually managed to use cinema as a powerful tool of propaganda.
Here is a story from history. I don't have much time.
An influential director in the "Golden Age" of South Korean cinema was to be swept up in this sort of dictatorial obsession. Shin Sang-ok was a prolific South Korean director in the '50s and 60s, but declined in the '70s under strict censorship. It is important to note that Shin had divorced his wife (actress Choi Eun-Hee) by this point.
Also, it is believed that 3,796 South Koreans have been abducted by North Korea (beginning in 1950). In case that is confusing to you, understand that many of these victims are returned to their home countries as North Korean spies. The abductions are not limited to South Korea, either.
Both Choi and and Shin were allegedly kidnapped (separately) in 1978. There is much debate over what truly happened. Shin claims to have been kept in a concentration camp, where he lived on bread and water (as well as grass). Soon after this he agreed to be the new architect of North Korean cinema. Kim Jong Il intended to revolutionize filmmaking and prove to the world that North Korea was a force to be reckoned with. Shin was invited to a decadent feast where he first realized that Choi had also been kidnapped. Shortly thereafter they remarried to please the state.
Back in South Korea, Shin was known to do anything within his power to be making films. This is where some skeptics would argue that Shin was simply an opportunist. In the '70s Shin's decline was linked to his falling out with General Park. For some this seems like a convenient time to get "kidnapped". How grand would it be to leap from struggling under strict censorship to be dining with the king of censors? North Korea claims that Shin and Choi came willingly. However, during one of the earliest meetings, Choi managed to smuggle in a tape recorder and document Kim's plans for them both. This evidence was instrumental in validating their story.
Eventually they were both permitted to attend a film festival in Vienna, where they managed to escape to the American Embassy.
From all that Shin says of Kim, it seems that he really just wanted to be like the Soviets. However, Kim had no Pudovkin, no Eisenstein, no Vertov, and no Dovzhenko. Kim had only Shin. And what did Shin bring him?
Pulgasari (1985).
The film was inspired by the Japanese monster-movie series, Gojira. Overtime Gojira has taken on many different forms. To me, this iteration has no equivalent. The story of Pulgasari is based on a Korean legend. The narrative presents an oppressive king who sends his army to confiscate all metal from the starving farmers- pots, pans, and utensils. Can anyone say Mao?
Soon after, a blacksmith is arrested for refusing to forge all this metal into swords. While in prison his daughter smuggles in some rice for him, which he fashions into a small doll. After his death, with the prompting of a drop of her blood, the doll transforms into the monster. The monster consumes iron, growing with each ingestion. The monster leads the farmers in a rebellion against the tyrannical king. The monster does not balk, even against rockets (yes, in 1000 A.D., there are rockets). Pulgasari joins the people in shattering the system of feudalism. And then it gets weird. Yes, now.
The insatiable monster starts to devour all of the tools and pots and pans that the people have fought to win back. All that remains is a large bell where the blacksmith's daughter is hiding. And then..
"Pulgasari eats the bell and with it the girl inside. But he is meant to eat iron, not girls. Upon tasting the blacksmith daughter, he explodes. A tiny Pulgasari is running around the debris, hit by a light beam and dissolving… The blacksmith’s daughter is sleeping in the midst of the rubble with a tear on her face… End."
Where Stalin was afraid of artistic expression, Kim was unaware of it. This film would never have been released under Stalin, because it could have been a subtle critique. I think it was. Minus the subtle part. Would this film help restore the people's faith in the Worker's Party or just remind the masses of their lack of human rights? Many Korean critics find it laughable that this film was released as propaganda, when it is clearly pointing a big finger at Kim Jong Il (and his father before him). Could it be that the film even jumps forward, asking what will come of the weakening of the regime under Kim Jong Un?
All in all, Choi and Shin never separated again.
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2003/apr/04/artsfeatures1
http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/acd/re/ssrc/result/memoirs/kiyou22/22-01.pdf
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