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

AnAmazonBestofTheYearNonfictionSelectionLibraryJournalTopTenBookoftheYear!TheExtraordinaryTrueStoryofKimJong-Il’skidnappingofthegoldencoupleofSouthKoreanCinema,TheMoviesTheyWereForcedtoMake,andTheirDaringEscape.Beforebecomingtheworld’smostnotoriousdictator,KimJong-IlranNorthKorea’sMinistryforPropagandaandallitsfilmstudios.Underwhelmedbythepooloftalentavailabletohimhetookdrasticsteps,orderingthekidnapofChoiEun-Hee(MadameChoi)–SouthKorea’smostfamousactress–andherex-husbandShinSang-Ok,thecountry’smostfamousfilmmaker.ButasMadameChoiandShinShang-OkbegintomakeNorthKorea’sgreatestfilms,theyhatchaplanofescapeworthyofablockbusterHollywoodending.AKimJong-IlProductionisthatrarestofbooks:awildlyentertaining,cunninglytoldstorythatoffersarareglimpseintoanationstillwrappedinmystery.“Gripping…AKimJong-IlProductiontellstheabsurd,harrowing,andtruestoryofChoiandShin'sordeal,whichrevealstheimportanceoffilmaspropagandatotheNorthKoreanregime.”―Esquire.com“The1978abductionsoftheSouthKoreanactressChoi-Eun-Heandherex-husband,thedirectorShinSang-Ok,inHongKongisthetruecrimeatthecenterofPaulFischer'sgrippingandsurprisinglytimelynewbook.”―TheNewYorkTimes“Anentertainingnewbook…detailshow[ShinandChoi]finallyseizedtheirchancetoseekasylum…Astupefying,novelisticread.”―TheBostonGlobe“Fischer'sentertainingnarrativepaintsanarrestingportraitofaNorthKorean"theaterstate,"forcedtoenactthedementedscriptofasociopathictyrant.”―PublishersWeekly“PaulFischer'sbookAKimJong-IlProductionisahighlyilluminatingdeepdiveonthemiddleKim'scinematicobsessionsandthefilmarmsracebetweenthetwoKoreas.”―TheWashingtonPost“Exhaustivelyresearched,highlyengrossingchronicleoftheoutrageousabductionofapairofwell-knownSouthKoreanfilmmakersbythenefariousnetworkofNorthKorea'sKimJong-Il.”―KirkusReviews(StarredReview)