A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Incredible True Story of North Korea and the Most Audacious Kidnapping in History - Softcover

Fischer, Paul

4.2

5,874 ratings by Goodreads

9780241004302: A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Incredible True Story of North Korea and the Most Audacious Kidnapping in History

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0241004306 ISBN 13: 9780241004302

Publisher: Viking, 2015

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A Kim Jong-Il Production by Paul Fischer - love, films and kidnapping in North Korea, the world's wildest regime

Before becoming the world's most notorious dictator, Kim Jong-Il ran North Korea's film industry. He directed every film made in the country but knew they were nothing compared to Hollywood. Then he hit on the perfect solution: order the kidnapping of South Korea's most famous actress and her ex-husband, the country's most acclaimed director.

In a jaw-dropping mission the couple were kidnapped, held hostage and then 'employed' to make films for the Dear Leader, including a remake of Godzilla. They gained Kim's trust - but could they escape?

A non-fiction thriller with a plot so jaw-dropping even Hollywood couldn't make it up, this extraordinary book will be enjoyed by fans of Argo and Nothing to Envy.

'A story almost too wild to believe . . . Unputdownable' Benjamin Wallace, author of New York Times bestseller The Billionaire's Vinegar

Paul Fischer is a film producer and writer. Born in Saudi Arabia and raised in France, he studied Social Sciences at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris and Film at the University of Southern California and the New York Film Academy. He has worked as an independent film producer in London for the past seven years; his first feature, the documentary Radioman, won the Grand Jury Prize at the Doc NYC festival. A Kim Jong-Il Production is his first book.

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Review:

An absolutely brilliant page-turner

(Daily Mail)

Addictive, profoundly weird (Spectator)

Extraordinary, gripping (Financial Times)

Stranger than fiction (Independent)

Captivatingly tells perhaps the most extraordinary tale from the world's most bizarre country. That a North Korean dictator should kidnap two South Korean movie stars and force them to make films he hoped would rival Hollywood seems the stuff of fantasy . . . Flabbergasting (Paul French, author of international bestseller 'Midnight in Peking')

A true story of desperate movie stars, daring escapes, and the paranoid leader who brought it all together. Equal parts history, thriller, and farce . . . will keep you engrossed until the very end (Matt Baglio, co-author of 'New York Times' bestseller Argo)

From the Back Cover:

[Sticker: CWA Non Fiction Dagger SHORTLISTED]

'Thrilling, incredible' Metro

'Extraordinary, gripping' Financial Times

It opens with a double-kidnapping . . .

Madame Choi, South Korea's most famous actress, is lured to Hong Kong, drugged and smuggled out on a ship. When her ex-husband, Shin Sang-Ok, Korea's most acclaimed director, goes to look for her, he vanishes too. The pair wake to find themselves in North Korea. They are imprisoned, tortured and brainwashed for five years, never seeing one another.

Then they meet North Korea's murderous head of propaganda and next leader, Kim Jong-Il. He tells them they have a choice - go back to prison or make movies for him. . .

This is the true story of how the couple did as they were told - making a cult classic along the way - while secretly plotting a daring escape to the West.

'Gripping, absurd, harrowing' Esquire

'Bold, pacey. Reminds us that ludicrousness and brutality can thrive side-by-side' Independent

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