Hello, Kaiju Lovers! Nate and Jimmy venture across the 38th parallel into North Korea to cover the most infamous kaiju film ever made and recapture its star monster: Pulgasari. Tomi Trembath of the Giant-Sized Violence podcast, who grew up with its strange American remake, The Adventures of Galgameth, joins Nate via video call (for obvious reasons) to discuss this “North Korean Godzilla,” which is surrounded by urban legends and even wilder true stories. It’s a pseudo-remake of a lost South Korean film and, arguably, the Daimajin trilogy–because it’s an ’80s movie that looks like a grungy ’60s movie. (Thanks, “Dear Leader”!) But it saved the life of its kidnapped director, Shin Sang-ok, and his actress wife, Choi Eun-hee, which is the subject of our Toku Topic.
Listen to this episode’s prologue: https://monsterislandfilmvault.com/index.php/2024/06/27/episode-93-prologue-the-hunting-of-the-snarky-nate-part-1/.
Read Jimmy’s Notes on this episode on the MIFV website! (https://monsterislandfilmvault.com/index.php/2024/06/27/jimmys-notes-on-episode-94-pulgasari-vs-tomi-trembath/).
Check out Nathan’s spinoff podcasts, The Henshin Men and The Power Trip. Henshin Power V3 coming July 10, 2024 (Ultraman Day)!
We’d like to give a shout-out to our MIFV MAX patrons Danny DiManna (author/creator of the Godzilla Novelization Project); Damon Noyes, The Cel Cast, TofuFury, Eric Anderson of Nerd Chapel, Ted Williams, Wynja the Ninja, Brad “Batman” Eddleman, Christopher Riner, The Indiscrite One, Eli Harris, Jake Hambrick, Matt Walsh (but not that Matt Walsh), Jonathan Courtright, Robert Kidd, Leon Campbell, and Michael Watson! Thanks for your support!
You, too, can join MIFV MAX on Patreon to get this and other perks starting at only $3 a month! (https://www.patreon.com/monsterislandfilmvault)
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This episode is approved by the Monster Island Board of Directors.
Timestamps:
- Introduction: 0:00-6:45
- Entertaining Info Dump: 6:45-14:57
- Toku Talk: 14:57-1:14:50
- Ad (Toku Toy Town): 1:14:50-1:16:12
- Toku Topic (The Story of Shin Sang-ok and Choi Eun-hee): 1:16:12-2:00:12
- Outro: 2:00:12-2:14:30
- Credits: 2:14:30-end
Podcast Social Media:
- MIFV Linktree: https://linktr.ee/monsterislandfilmvault
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- MIFV is one of Feedspot’s top 10 tokusatsu podcasts! (https://blog.feedspot.com/tokusatsu_podcasts/)
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Bibliography/Further Reading:
- Fischer, Paul. A Kim Jong-il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator’s Rise to Power. Flat Iron Books. 2015.
- “Interpreting North Korea’s Godzilla: Pulgasari | Video Essay.” YouTube. Uploaded by Accented Cinema. 28 March 2019. https://youtu.be/fmiCzc56EZE.
- LeMay, John. The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies Volume 2: 1984-2017.
- Lovers and the Despot, The. Written and directed by Robert Cannan and Ross Adam. Distributed by Soda Pictures and Magnolia Pictures. 2016. Viewed on Tubi.
- “North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korean_abductions_of_Japanese_citizens.
- “North Korean abductions of South Koreans.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korean_abductions_of_South_Koreans.
- “Pulgasari.” IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089851/.
- “Pulgasari.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulgasari.
- “Pulgasari (creature).” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulgasari_(creature).
- “Pulgasari: A Fascinating Subversion.” YouTube. Uploaded by Omni Viewer. 16 Jan. 2018. https://youtu.be/35MwGd41nr0?si=epgv42n6sSX81GlF.
- “Pulgasari (1985).” Wikizilla. https://wikizilla.org/wiki/Pulgasari_(film).
- Schönherr, Johannes. “Chapter 14 – A Permanent State of War: A Short History of North Korean Cinema.” Film Out of Bounds: Essays and Interviews on Non-Mainstream Cinema Worldwide. McFarland &Company, Inc. Edited by Matthew Edwards. 2007.
- Schönherr, Johannes. “Chapter 15 – Godzilla Goes to North Korea: An Interview with Kenpachiro Satsuma.” Film Out of Bounds: Essays and Interviews on Non-Mainstream Cinema Worldwide. McFarland &Company, Inc. Edited by Matthew Edwards. 2007.
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