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The Lovers & the Despot

  • 20162016
  • UnratedUnrated
  • 1h 38m
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
1K
YOUR RATING
Eun-hie Choi, Jong-Il Kim, and Shin Sang-ok in The Lovers & the Despot (2016)
Trailer for The Lovers and the Despot
Play trailer1:44
4 Videos
4 Photos
DocumentaryBiographyThriller
The story of the South Korean actor, Choi Eun-hee, and her ex-husband and film director, Shin Sang-ok, who were individually kidnapped and reunited by dictator and film fan Kim Jong-il to fo... Read allThe story of the South Korean actor, Choi Eun-hee, and her ex-husband and film director, Shin Sang-ok, who were individually kidnapped and reunited by dictator and film fan Kim Jong-il to force them to develop North Korea's film industry.The story of the South Korean actor, Choi Eun-hee, and her ex-husband and film director, Shin Sang-ok, who were individually kidnapped and reunited by dictator and film fan Kim Jong-il to force them to develop North Korea's film industry.
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
1K
YOUR RATING
  • Directors
    • Ross Adam
    • Robert Cannan
  • Writers
    • Ross Adam
    • Robert Cannan
  • Stars
    • Eun-hie Choi
    • Paul Courtenay Hyu
    • Shin Sang-ok(voice)
  • Directors
    • Ross Adam
    • Robert Cannan
  • Writers
    • Ross Adam
    • Robert Cannan
  • Stars
    • Eun-hie Choi
    • Paul Courtenay Hyu
    • Shin Sang-ok(voice)
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 11User reviews
    • 57Critic reviews
    • 65Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 5 nominations

    Videos4

    The Lovers and the Despot
    Trailer 1:44
    Watch The Lovers and the Despot
    The Lovers and the Despot
    Trailer 2:04
    Watch The Lovers and the Despot
    The Lovers & the Despot Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:02
    Watch The Lovers & the Despot Official Trailer
    'The Lovers and the Despot': Escape
    Clip 2:10
    Watch 'The Lovers and the Despot': Escape

    Photos

    Eun-hie Choi, Jong-Il Kim, and Shin Sang-ok in The Lovers & the Despot (2016)
    Eun-hie Choi, Jong-Il Kim, and Shin Sang-ok in The Lovers & the Despot (2016)
    Eun-hie Choi, Jong-Il Kim, and Shin Sang-ok in The Lovers & the Despot (2016)
    Add photo

    Top cast

    Edit
    Eun-hie Choi
    Eun-hie Choi
    • Self
    Paul Courtenay Hyu
    • Shin Sang-ok
    Shin Sang-ok
    Shin Sang-ok
    • Self
    • (voice)
    • (as Sang-ok Shin)
    • Directors
      • Ross Adam
      • Robert Cannan
    • Writers
      • Ross Adam
      • Robert Cannan
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Jong-Il Kim was a huge film fan and had over 15,000 movies in his private collection. The bulk of these were not homegrown North Korean productions which he felt were stiff and lifeless (they were propaganda of course). Instead Kim admired the more dynamic productions from South Korea and the West even though he had banned these from being shown.
    • Connections
      Features The Forty-First (1956)
    • Soundtracks
      Korean Spring Song
      Performed by The Kim Sisters

      Words and Music by Hai Fong Kim

      Published by Combine Music Corp, EMI Apriil Music Inc.

      Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment Inc.

    User reviews11

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    4/10
    Compelling story but not compelling storytelling
    This film is a shining example of a concept that many filmmakers grapple with today: simply presenting an intriguing story, then stepping back and turning on a camera does not assure a successful film. This failure of execution is of particular death to a documentary because the whole point is connection with the audience on an emotional level, thereby creating engagement and usually suspense --- suspense often much more cogent because it's not fiction. Talented doc-makers can achieve this with virtually any subject: food, talking-head philosophers, even type-settings ("Helvetica").

    You'd think a doc about two filmmakers, Choi and Shin, kidnapped separately, then reunited and held against their will by a deranged dictator would be a snap to pull off.

    But The Lovers and The Despot largely fails to achieve more than minimal engagement (unless, I guess, if you've never heard of the Kim dynasty or North Korea) because it rarely scratches the surface of the event itself or even the Koreas most of us know only from news footage. The film's pacing is extremely problematic in its sluggishness. It seems improbable to NOT know the basic premise even before going into this film: Struggle, abduction, pretend submission, veiled surveillance of the enemy, and escape. Yet it's forty minutes into the film before we exit act one and Choi is taken.

    Yes, the Kims and particularly Kim Jong Il are huge mysteries. You could argue they are way more fascinating than Shin and Choi (who come off many times as shallow and facile. I doubt this, but when asked what films she is proud of Choi says "the ones that win awards"). Do we learn much about Choi's time --- FIVE YEARS --- with the dictator? No. It sounds for the most part as if she were left alone. I'm not discounting or minimizing Choi and Shin's ordeal. I'm attempting to relay how ineffective and downright boring much of this film is because the director, Paul Courtenay Hyu gives us so little information via interviews to engage with. For example, Shin obviously suffered after being sent to SIX camps after attempting escapes. How? No one knows or bothers to tell us.

    I'm sure this film will have more resonance with viewers who have first-hand experience with totalitarianism. But that's not engaging with the film itself, it's engaging with the issue. We never get inside Choi or Shin's heads except to sympathize with their truly horrific ordeal of separation and that's a real shame. I feel this is largely the director's fault and the editing doesn't freshen anything either. For the most part the cutting is what you'd expect from a standard Behind The Scenes bonus feature, matching bits of Shin's film to the narrative in a numbing predictable way.

    It's too bad but not too surprising to find many to this day don't believe Choi and Shin's story. This film doesn't go far in convincing anyone that it's beyond fiction, and that's the real tragedy since I do believe it's fact.
    helpful•17
    7
    • bob_meg
    • Sep 27, 2016

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 23, 2016 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Official site
      • Official site (Japan)
    • Languages
      • Korean
      • English
      • Japanese
    • Also known as
      • Filmens fångar
    • Filming locations
      • Seoul, South Korea
    • Production companies
      • Hellflower Film
      • Pumpernickel Films
      • Submarine
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $55,511
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $14,925
      • Sep 25, 2016
    • Gross worldwide
      • $95,521
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 38 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.78 : 1

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