The Famous Actress/Director Couple Kidnapped and Forced To Make Movies

Imagine if two stars as big as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were kidnapped, forced to remarry, and given no choice but to start making movies together for a crazy dictator.  In 1978, that actually happened.  Choi Eun-hee was the most famous movie star in South Korea. Shin Sang-ok was the most famous director. They had a 'Brangelina' level marriage, with millions of people invested in their famous relationship and the movies they made as a mega-famous couple. But when they got divorced and stopped working together, one man decided that simply would not do. Kim Jong-il - son of the dictator of North Korea - had Choi and Shin kidnapped and brought to him. After a bit of light torture and 're-education', it was announced that they would remarry and start making movies again, all for the pleasure and good publicity of the North Korean people. And with the options being 'pretend to be married and make movies or DIE'... well, Choi and Shin got to work making movies. For YEARS.  Skip straight to the story: 40:42 We give you Just The Gist, but if you want more, there's this: Read “A Kim Jong-il Production”, the most comprehensive book about Shin, Choi & Kim: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22537682-a-kim-jong-il-production Watch “The Lovers and the Despot”, made in 2016, featuring interviews with Choi & her family:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LAuPwBpwYg  Watch Pulgasari, the Korean version of Godzilla:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCKSR0JArUQ  We couldn’t find the full length version of the North Korean Titanic ripoff, but get a taste of it here:  https://northkoreanfilms.com/category/souls-protest/  Listen to the 3 part series about the Kim dynasty on the Real Dictators podcast  (here’s ep 2 which focuses on the abduction of Choi & Shin): https://megaphone.link/NSR4712613098 The TikTok girl (@kimberlytahmus) who reads Britney's tweets in a southern accent: https://www.tiktok.com/@kimberlytahmus/video/7055105029228809519?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1&lang=en The Drop Out trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7rlZLw9m10 Get tickets to the Just The Gist LIVE shows! https://moretalent.com.au/tours/just-the-gist/ Follow us on Insta! @JustTheGistPodcast @RosieWaterland @JacobWilliamStanley Email us your suGISTions! [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.