Choi Eun-hee
Choi Eun-hee | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 20, 1926 |
| Nationality | South Korean |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1947–2006 |
| Spouse | Shin Sang-ok (divorced 1976, remarried 1983) |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 최은희 |
| Hanja | 崔銀姬 |
| Revised Romanization | Choe Eun-Hui |
| McCune–Reischauer | Ch'oe Ǔn-hŭi |
Choi Eun-hee (born November 20, 1926) is a South Korean actress. She began her film career in 1947 in the film A New Oath. For the next 20 years, she was one of the biggest stars in Korean film and led the Shin Film company along with her husband, the director Shin Sang-ok.
In 1978, Choi and Shin, whom she had recently divorced due to Shin having committed adultery, were kidnapped in Hong Kong to North Korea by order of Kim Jong-il.[1] Kim's plan was to have Shin work as his propagandist and for Choi to be the star. Shortly after agreeing to the demands of Kim, they were remarried at his recommendation. The couple finally staged their escape in 1986 while on a trip to Vienna, fleeing to the United States embassy and requesting political asylum.[2] According to the Internet Movie Database, from 1955 to 1985, Choi appeared in eighty-one films. She received the award for best actress at the 14th Moscow International Film Festival in 1985, for her part in the film Sogum.[3][4][5][6]
With Shin, she wrote an account of their years in Pyongyang.[7] Shin also wrote his autobiography shortly before his death.[8]
In 2015, an English-language biography of her life (along with Shin Sang-ok) was published by Paul Fischer titled A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker.[5] In January 2016, at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, in the World Cinema Documentary Competition, a documentary about the North Korean ordeal, entitled The Lovers and the Despot and directed by Robert Cannan and Ross Adam, was presented.
Selected filmography
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1958 | A Flower in Hell | So-nya |
| 1960 | To the Last Day | |
| 1961 | The Houseguest and My Mother | |
| 1962 | A Happy Day of Jinsa Maeng | Ip-bun |
| The Memorial Gate for Virtuous Women | ||
| 1963 | Rice | |
| 1964 | Red Scarf | Ji-seon |
| Deaf Sam-yong | ||
| 1965 | The Sino-Japanese War and Queen Min the Heroine | |
| 1967 | Phantom Queen | |
| 1968 | Woman |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | 2nd Buil Film Awards | Best Actress | A Flower in Hell | Won |
| 1962 | 5th Buil Film Awards | Best Actress | The Houseguest and My Mother | Won |
| 1964 | 2nd Blue Dragon Film Awards | Popular Star Award | — | Won |
| 1966 | 9th Buil Film Awards | Best Actress | The Sino-Japanese War and Queen Min the Heroine | Won |
| 4th Blue Dragon Film Awards | Popular Star Award | — | Won | |
| 2006 | 5th Korean Film Awards | Lifetime Achievement Award | — | Won |
| 2008 | 28th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards | Lifetime Achievement Award | — | Won |
| 2009 | 17th Chunsa Film Art Awards | Chunsa Daesang (Grand Prize) | — | Won |
| 2010 | 47th Grand Bell Awards | Lifetime Achievement Award for the Advancement of Cinema |
— | Won |
See also
References
- ^ Kim, Chanmi (2013-08-12). "배우 최은희 "외도로 이혼한 신상옥 납북 후 용서했다"".
- ^ "Same Bed, Different Dreams". This American Life. 2015-05-02. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
- ^ "14th Moscow International Film Festival (1985)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 2013-03-16. Retrieved 2013-02-10.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Sebag-Montefiore, Clarissa (Jan 28, 2015). "The Day North Korea Really Did Steal the Show – The Book 'A Kim Jong-Il Production' Explores a Bizarre Case in Cinema History". The Wall Street Journal. New York. Archived from the original on Jan 29, 2015. Retrieved Aug 27, 2015.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ a b Fischer, Paul (February 3, 2015). A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator's Rise to Power. Flatiron Books. ISBN 978-1250054265.
- ^ Kirby, Michael Donald; Biserko, Sonja; Darusman, Marzuki (7 February 2014). "Report of the detailed findings of the commission of inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea - A/HRC/25/CRP.1". United Nations Human Rights Council: 288–89 (Paragraph 905). Archived from the original on Feb 27, 2014.
In 1978, South Korean Actress Ms Choi Un-hee was abducted from Hong Kong after travelling there to meet people in the movie industry. After being forced onto a boat by DPRK agents, Ms Choi demanded an explanation from the abductors, to which they replied "Madam Choi, we are now going to the bosom of General Kim Il-sung". On her arrival in the DPRK on 22 January, she was met by Kim Jong-il who took her on a tour of Pyongyang. Upon learning of her disappearance, Ms Choi's ex-husband Shin Sang-ok, a leading filmmaker, went to Hong Kong to look for her. He was also abducted from Hong Kong by the same DPRK agent in July 1978. Kim Jong-il said to Mr Shin upon his arrival in the DPRK "I had ordered the operations group to carry out a project to bring you here as I wanted a talented director like you to be in the North." This information is consistent with the accounts from former DPRK officials who were personally involved in abductions who indicated that Kim Jong-il personally signed off on abduction orders. During their time in the DPRK, Mr Shin Sang-ok and Ms Choi Un-hee were involved in a number of DPRK-produced movies of which Kim Jong-il was the executive producer. The couple escaped into the United States Embassy while visiting a film festival in Vienna in 1986. They later settled in the United States; Mr Shin has since passed away.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help); Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ 우리의 탈출은 끝나지 않았다: 신상옥·최은희 비록
- ^ 난, 영화였다 : 영화감독신상옥이남긴마지막글들
External links
- Choi Eun-hee at the Korean Movie Database
- Eun-hie Choi at IMDb
- Inside the mind of Kim Jong-il, BBC, July 21, 2003, retrieved January 29, 2006
- Kidnapped by North Korea, Mike Thomson, BBC, March 5, 2003, retrieved January 29, 2006
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