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Pulgasari (Chosŏn'gŭl: 불가사리; RR: Bulgasari) is a 1985 North Korean dark fantasy-action monster film directed by Shin Sang-ok and Chong Gon Jo. The film starred Chang Son Hui and Pak Sung Ho and featured special effects by Duk Ho Kim, supervised by Teruyoshi Nakano. The film was loosely based on the legend of the Bulgasari. Director Shin had been kidnapped in 1978 by North Korean intelligence on the orders of Kim Jong-il, son of the then-ruling Kim Il-sung.
Plot
In feudal Korea, during the Goryeo Dynasty, a king controls the land with an iron fist, subjecting the peasantry to misery and starvation. An old blacksmith 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 who 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.
After much suffering, the peasants form an army, storm the palace of the Governor and kill him. 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.
In feudal Korea, during the Goryeo Dynasty, a king controls the land with an iron fist, subjecting the peasantry to misery and starvation. An old blacksmith 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 who 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.
After much suffering, the peasants form an army, storm the palace of the Governor and kill him. 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.
Cast
- Chang Son Hui as Ami
- Ham Gi Sop Ham Gi Sop as Inde
- Jong-uk Ri Jong-uk Ri as Ana
- Gwon Ri Gwon Ri as Takse (Ami's Father)
- Gyong-ae Yu Gyong-ae Yu as Inde's Mother
- Hye-chol Ro Hye-chol Ro as Inde's Brother
- Sang-hun Tae Sang-hun Tae as Rebel Forces
- Gi-chon Kim Gi-chon Kim as Rebel Forces
- In-chol Ri In-chol Ri as Rebel Forces
- Riyonun Ri Riyonun Ri as General Fuan
- Yong-hok Pak Yong-hok Pak as The King
- Pong-ilk Pak Pong-ilk Pak as The Governor
- Kenpachirô Satsuma Kenpachirô Satsuma as Pulgasary (suit actor)
- 'Little Man' Machan 'Little Man' Machan as Baby Pulgasari
Production
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, North Korea).
Kim was a lifelong admirer of the director, as well as Godzilla and other Kaiju films. He kidnapped the former director and his wife, famous actress Choi Eun-hee, with the specific purpose of making fantasy/propaganda films for the North Korean government. Kim Jong-il also produced Pulgasari (through Korean Film Studio) and all the films that Sang-ok made before he and Choi managed to escape from their minders while on a festival tour in Austria. Specifically, the film was inspired by The Return of Godzilla. The staff from Japan's Toho Studios, the creators of Godzilla, participated in creating the film's special effects. They were tricked into coming as they thought they were filming in China.
Jonathan Ross stated that the film was intended by the North Korean Government to be a propaganda metaphor for the effects of unchecked capitalism and the power of the collective.
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, North Korea).
Kim was a lifelong admirer of the director, as well as Godzilla and other Kaiju films. He kidnapped the former director and his wife, famous actress Choi Eun-hee, with the specific purpose of making fantasy/propaganda films for the North Korean government. Kim Jong-il also produced Pulgasari (through Korean Film Studio) and all the films that Sang-ok made before he and Choi managed to escape from their minders while on a festival tour in Austria. Specifically, the film was inspired by The Return of Godzilla. The staff from Japan's Toho Studios, the creators of Godzilla, participated in creating the film's special effects. They were tricked into coming as they thought they were filming in China.
Jonathan Ross stated that the film was intended by the North Korean Government to be a propaganda metaphor for the effects of unchecked capitalism and the power of the collective.
Legacy
Kenpachiro Satsuma was quoted as saying he preferred Pulgasari to TriStar's Godzilla. 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 a metaphor for Kim Il-sung betraying a people's revolution for his own purposes.
After finding out that his credit was removed from the movie, Shin Sang-ok also wrote a remake called The Adventures of Galgameth. In 2006, Pulgasari made its New York debut at the end of Columbia University Japanese culture center's yearlong “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 Shin Sang-ok and Choi Eun-hee's kidnapping at the hands of North Korea's government. During their strange captivity in the country the Shin and Choi were, respectively, director and leading actress in a number of North Korean films produced by Kim Jong-il. 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. However, Pulgasari does not feature Choi, and it was the last film directed by Shin before he and Choi escaped to the United States.
Kenpachiro Satsuma was quoted as saying he preferred Pulgasari to TriStar's Godzilla. 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 a metaphor for Kim Il-sung betraying a people's revolution for his own purposes.
After finding out that his credit was removed from the movie, Shin Sang-ok also wrote a remake called The Adventures of Galgameth. In 2006, Pulgasari made its New York debut at the end of Columbia University Japanese culture center's yearlong “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 Shin Sang-ok and Choi Eun-hee's kidnapping at the hands of North Korea's government. During their strange captivity in the country the Shin and Choi were, respectively, director and leading actress in a number of North Korean films produced by Kim Jong-il. 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. However, Pulgasari does not feature Choi, and it was the last film directed by Shin before he and Choi escaped to the United States.
Trivia
- Although the film is a North Korean production, director Sang-ok Shin is South Korean. North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il was a huge fan of Shin's, and since North and South Korea have technically been at war since 1951 and have no diplomatic relations, Kim had him kidnapped. Shin eventually escaped back to South Korea, but not before he had been forced to make this movie for the erratic North Korean leader.
- In the early 1990's, the North Koreans attempted to market this propaganda film to foreign countries with no success. Finally in 1998 it got its first international viewing in Japan where it gained a small cult following.
- A recently found poster suggests that Pulgasari is a remake of a 1962 South Korean film of the same name, although the poster may have been fake.