The Lovers and the Despot (2016)

Name: The Lovers and the Despot
Genre: Documentary, History
Released: 2016
Duration: 98 min
Rating: 6.9
Cast: Paul Courtenay Hyu, Yuna Shin, Choi Eun-hee, Michael Yi, Shin Jeong-kyun

1h 38m France, Netherlands, United Kingdom

Documentary History

Plot

In 1978 Hong Kong, South Korean actress Choi Eun-hee finds herself ensnared in a dangerous plot as North Korean agents, acting on Kim Jong-il's orders, abduct her. The political intrigue deepens when her husband, director Shin Sang-ok, is also taken to the North. As the couple navigates the treacherous landscape of their captors, they are coerced into creating films for the reclusive regime. Their harrowing journey intertwines love, survival, and the complexities of power, revealing the extraordinary lengths to which individuals will go under oppressive rule.

Cast

Paul Courtenay Hyu Yuna Shin Choi Eun-hee Michael Yi Shin Jeong-kyun Shin Myung-yim Choi Kyung-ok Iain T. A. Hall Pierre Rissient Lee Jang-ho David Straub Jang Jin-sun Nishida Tetsuo Derek Malcolm Dean S. Robinson