A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator's Rise to Power

Paul Fischer's A Kim Jong Il Production presents the rudimentary story of tragic life in the DPRK, however this volume's subjects are two clever kidnapping victims who go on to be creative survivors of the cruel fates orchestrated by Kim Jong-Il. The manner in which Fischer incorporates strategic interviews, facts, historical research, and a touching creative nonfiction narrative creates a vibrant and dynamic voice that makes this book an effective combination of multiple genres encapsulated into one book.The book is a nonfiction narrative that covers both Kim Jong-Il's rise to power and the kidnapping and employment of Choi Eun-Hee and Shin Sang-Ok from South Korea to kickstart the DPRK's new film industry. Through a variety of cloak and dagger operations, the two were able to undermine the authority of Kim and use their influence over the Dear Leader, the country, and various diplomatic and professional connections to their advantage in escaping the brutal kingdom. But the manner in which Fischer combines testimony, narrative, and facts is masterfully woven throughout each paragraph of the book.In A Kim Jong-Il Production, Fisher tells a captivating story using a variety of methods that combine research, testimony, and creative nonfiction storytelling. The manner in which his inline references to interviews, historical data, and his own trips to North Korea are interwoven with a creative narrative create a voice that is both authoritative and engaging to the audience. This innovative approach to storytelling melds a traditional narrative methodology with fact in an engaging manner, and that in turn bridges the popular with the academic and widens the potential market for the text as well as the awareness of the readers who pick it up.

A realidade supera a ficção nessa história impressionante do casal coreano sequestrado por Kim Jong-Il para fazer filmes na Coreia do Norte. Muito bom para aprender sobre a historia das Coreias, da Guerra Fria e do cinema oriental. Um dos melhores livros que ja li na vida!

Sensitively written. Penetrating psychological insights into the plight of two gifted South Korean artists kidnapped by Kim Jong-Il who uses them, and everyone else, as puppets in the epic he is trying to create on his personal stage -- which just happens to be his own country.

This book will give you an enlightened perspective about North Korea. If there was any doubt in your mind about how bonkers that regime is, this will dispel that notion.

Normally I would never read a book like this but thanks to Shane Smith from Vice who was recently a guest on the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast and who told a short but riveting synopsis of the story that this book covers in far more detail, I was completely intrigued and excited to learn more.I knew next to nothing about North (or even South for that matter) Korea before starting this book. I am surprised at what I have learned now and I am even more surprised how this book inspired me to research more about North Korea, it’s people, and it’s history…something that I had zero interest in previously. I hope this book becomes popular and has this same effect on many others. I don’t believe the global public really has any understanding of just how oppressed the North Korean’s are and just how hard a life they must endure.The book starts off detailing the history of the Korean Peninsula and explains the Kim’s history of rule, starting with the “The Supreme Leader” Kim Il-Sung, his son “Dear Leader” Kim Jong-Il (who is the focus in this book), and finally but briefly Jong-Il’s son, Kim Jong-Un, who is the current ruler. The latter part of the book focuses more on the abduction and subsequent events of actress Choi Eun-Hee and her director husband Shin Sang-Ok. They eventually learn that their purpose is to revitalize North Korea’s film industry by producing quality propaganda movies for the cinephile Jong-Il, who’s ultimate desire is to rival the world’s greatest film studios.I believe the author Paul Fischer went to great lengths to write only what he could reasonably be assured was the truth and that he did little, if any, embellishing. As Shin’s career abruptly came to an end in South Korea and he was unable to find work even in other countries, I did come to the natural suspicion that perhaps the kidnapping and time spent in North Korea was exaggerated if not an outright lie, but Fischer addresses this too and even does a respectful breakdown of the reasons why this theory is highly unlikely.Overall this is a great story that reads like fiction but is backed up with facts and is probably the closest to non-fiction one can get considering all the circumstances. Readers will come away with a lot of knowledge of North Korea and most likely a lot of sympathy for the people affected by the Kim dynasty - past and present! I definitely recommend this book and I would rate it 4/5.