Runtime: 95 minutes
Directed by: Shin Sang-Ok
Starring: Chang Son Hui, Ham Gi Sop, Jong-Uk Ri, Gwon Ri, Gyong-Ae Yu
From: Korean Film/Shin Film Productions
As I won't otherwise be discussing any kaiju films before Godzilla vs. Kong is released (not that I won't revisit one or two and just keep that fact private) it was the right time for me to finally see the most famous-and infamous-movie from North Korea... one whose backstory is for certain more interesting than than the movie.
After all, when the director and his actress ex-wife are abducted by Kim Jong Il back when he was just the son of a ruthless dictator and is forced to make movies for North Korea before they are finally able to flee in 1986... that is an amazing story that has been turned into a book (A Kim Jong-il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator’s Rise to Power, by Paul Fischer) and would make for quite the documentary or longform podcast series. Even more incredible is that some of the Toho crew that worked on the original Godzilla movies along with one of the men in the suit (Kenpachiro Satsuma) were tricked to work on Pulgasari-they thought this was a Chinese production.
Admittedly a difficult proposition, I chose to divorce the movie from the bizarre circumstances under which it was made, or the repugnant regime of its country of origin. On its own, it is a primitive yet entertaining tale which of course has some propaganda as it shows a village of farmers fighting against an evil empire with the assistance of a magical creature molded out of rice and brought to life via blood-long story-and loves eating iron. It is campy and has a rather silly synth score which was an aural surprise; be that as it may, Pulgasari was at least a good time and had a logical story anyone can get behind where poor people do battle against evil richer A-holes. It was a special kind of evil for the heels to demand the villagers' tools so they be created as weapons to use against them. I know I was not the only one to note the irony of poor people against a corrupt regime, because North Korea... even if it was supposed to be an analogy of Japan's occupation of the peninsula way back when.
It does have a unique setting (to me) of feudal times instead of 20th or 21st century. Then again I've never seen any of the Daimajin films of the 60's which take place in a similar era. As long as you are not bothered by seeing a piece of propaganda made in a totalitarian country where its citizens have been horribly mistreated for decades, the director was under duress and some of the crew was there via false pretenses... it was strange and shlocky without being a painful time. As an aside, hopefully Godzilla vs. Kong is as awesome as it could be.
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