Hi!

The Dear Leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea -- a film buff -- sanctioned a Korean version of the Titanic film after it came out in 1997-98.

As well as putting a Korean perspective on the Titanic disaster, the film apparently also includes valuable propaganda in terms of its support for the people's revolution.

Yet few people seem to have heard of this film, especially compared to the 1943 Titanic produced by Goebbels.

Does anyone have further information?

Any comments at all would be appreciated.

Best regards,

Mark.

Hi Mark,
I never knew about a korean version of the titanic film!
Do you know of any site for it, or maybe a trailer for it?
It sounds very interesting indeed!

Thanks,
Alec

Hi Alec!

Sadly I have not got a trailor or anything for it. I bought 'The Four Seasons of Pyongyang' off ebay, but although that's a North Korean film it is pretty short. I've learned that the film based on Titanic is actually very laiden with political propaganda, because they have set it on a ship in 1945.

Quote:
Titanic remake

Rumours abound about Mr Kim's favourites movies. Mr Schonherr said he believed they included the Friday 13th slasher films and gangster pictures like Scarface and The Godfather.

The Godfather is believed to be among Kim's favourite films
"Of course he doesn't travel much outside North Korea, so he doesn't know that much about the outside world from seeing it himself," Mr Schonherr added.

"But he is getting a world view from watching all these movies from all over the place.

"He likes American movies and he likes Hong Kong movies - probably he thinks in America they shoot each other all day long and have car chases every day."

What is certainly true is that a number of Mr Kim's films mimic Western-made ones quite closely.

According to Mr Schonherr, while Pulgasari was a copy of Japan's Godzilla films, another recent epic - about a North Korean ship that sank in 1945 - was "totally modelled" on Titanic, the most successful film of all time.

"The love story is like the love story with Leonardo diCaprio and Kate Winslet, and the director had to watch the real Titanic movie more than 100 times so he could get the Titanic feel into the North Korean version," Mr Schonherr said.

Source: British Broadcasting Corporation.

Quote:
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) 2001 -- North Korea's version of the movie "Titanic" will hit South Korean theaters soon.
Narai Film Company, a Seoul-based film trader, is awaiting permission to screen the movie about a 4,730-ton Japanese navy vessel, Ukishima, that sank with thousands of Koreans aboard off Japan's west coast on Aug. 24, 1945.

South Korea's film rating committee is expected to approve the movie soon, said Choi Jae-keun, an official of the Culture and Tourism Ministry.

Like Hollywood's "Titanic," the North Korean movie "Souls Protest" is based on a true story about a shipwreck. It adds the drama of a romance ending with the death of one of the lovers.

Hundreds and possibly several thousand Koreans on board the Ukishima died when it sank on its way to Korea after World War II. The cause of the tragedy has never been confirmed.

The North Korean movie claims the Japanese military bombed the ship to kill witnesses of its World War II atrocities, including the sexual enslavement of Koreans.

Narai has planned a premiere of the film in Seoul on Friday, the 56th anniversary of the sinking.

Best regards,

Mark.