Pulgasari.

Review #1956: Pulgasari.

Cast: 

Chang Son Hui (Ami), Ham Gi Sop (Inde), Jong-uk Ri (Ana), Gwon Ri (Takse), Gyong-ae Yu (Inde's Mother), Hye-chol Ro (Inde's Brother), Sang-hun Tae (Rebel Forces), Gi-chon Kim (Rebel Forces), In-chol Ri (Rebel Forces), Riyonun Ri (General Fuan), Yong-hok Pak (The King), Pong-ilk Pak (The Governor), and Kenpachiro Satsuma (Pulgasari) Directed by Shin Sang-ok.

Review: 

Admittedly, this is a film that seems quite simple to cover, because all it is a film involving a monster based on the legend of the Bulgasari. After all, it is a remake of Bulgasari (1962), a film from South Korea known for being the first Korean film with special effects along with being lost to viewing; incidentally, this film was remade as Galgameth (1996) in America. This is a film directed by Shin Sang-ok, a director born in 1926 in the city of Chongjin, the third-largest city of what is now part of North Korea (since the Empire Japan had occupied the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945). The son of a Korean doctor of medicine, he studied at the Tokyo Fine Arts School before becoming involved in film with Viva Freedom! (1946), which was the first Korean film made after the end of Japan's rule over Korea. Long story short, Korea was separated into two republics that each claimed sovereignty over the Korean peninsula, and Shin made films within the South. He would later be referred to as the "Prince of South Korean Cinema", complete with his own production company, with Shin's wife Choi Eun-hee being a star in various films in the 1960s and 1970s. Shin would direct various films beginning in 1952, which resulted in films such as The Houseguest and My Mother (1961), Red Scarf (1964), Salt (1985), and Mayumi (1990) before he died in 2006 at the age of 79. The film was written by Kim Se Ryun and produced by Shin and Kim Jong-il. 

Yes, you heard that correctly. In the late 1970s, Shin saw his film company collapse. In 1978, Choi, recently divorced from her husband due to infidelity, was visiting Hong Kong when she was kidnapped. Six months later, Shin was kidnapped while visiting Hong Kong in an attempt to do film business, although he was not told about Choi until much later. He spent time in prison after failing to escape, with the result being that the two would not reunite until 1983. Enter Kim Jong-il, the future head dictator of communist bloc North Korea. He had a film library of over 15,000 and wanted to see better films come out of the country, as he saw the inherent flaws within his county's film industry (under the belief that since the actors were going to be fed no matter what, they were not pulling their biggest effort). An Emissary of No Return (1984), Love, Love, My Love (1984), Runaway (1984), Salt (1985), The Tale of Shim Chong (1985), and Pulgasari (1985). In 1984, they had done a news conference in Yugoslavia to say they left South Korea "voluntarily" to escape harassment from the country. In March of 1986, they were granted to travel to Vienna in an attempt to find funding for Kim to make a movie about Genghis Khan. The result of their visit with a journalist ended with them running off successfully to seek asylum the United States embassy. Well, that sure is one way for Kim to try and change the world's perception of his country, by talking about kidnapping a filmmaker to make movies for him and being caught on tape saying those words.

Yes, this is a monster movie with effects provided by a crew (Toho!) that apparently was tricked into making it for what they thought was a Chinese film. I know it seems odd to cover a film that was made in North Korea and was made under duress, but well, here we are, with a Korean monster movie more baffling than Yongary, Monster from the Deep (1967). If you didn't know the backstory of the film, you would probably just call it a mediocre mash of cliches that looks bizarrely like a film made two decades earlier rather than 1985. It was apparently supposed to be a metaphor of propaganda for "unchecked capitalism" and the "power of the collective". Hell, the Soviets knew how to make films that were supposed to be propaganda than this, because one really could see this as a movie about the dangers of an unchecked liberator or they could have fun with dubbing it as a silly movie about a baby Godzilla telling the power of an iron diet. My favorite moment is the various attempts to take down this mythical being, one of which involves digging a large pit and tricking it into falling down there before the evil royalty starts digging over the beast. None of the actors particularly stand out when it comes to trying to draw even an ounce of properly ripping off Godzilla (specifically The Return of Godzilla, since it was released one year prior). It is mostly just comprised of medieval battle sequences that were probably thought of as almost passé years ago and a slightly amusing effect when trying to portray growing monster that has horns. Hell, the way the monster dies feels like cheating, since it eats a person hidden in a bell (the same one who gave it life in a sense by putting blood on the thing when it was the size of a doll). Goofiness is the only thing to think about in a movie that was thought by its producer as a "masterpiece" (when Shin left the country and told the truth, the film was then shuttered away for years) - let that be a standing mark about having a large film library doesn't necessarily mean one knows how to make a quality film. 

As a whole, it is far too amusing to be considered anything other than schlock, but its curiosity value will depend on just how much the backstory matters to understanding what the hell is up with a monster movie made in a dictatorship. It is about as amusing as seeing a poorly-made car run through the traffic cones, for what it is worth. Shin Sang-ok might not have had his best effort here, but he sure made an impression as a filmmaker in all of Korea nonetheless. He gets the credit far more than his kidnappers do, that is for sure.

Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.