SEOUL, April 20 (Yonhap) -- He is the leader of a "rogue" state that rigidly feeds its nuclear ambitions. He reportedly enslaves his own people and executes anyone who tries to escape his impoverished land. But actress Choi Eun-hee recalls North Korean leader Kim Jong-il as an impressive culture devotee so dedicated that he would write down dance moves on paper.
"He was the first man I met who attempted to make a 'dance notation.' I was curious how dance moves could be transformed onto paper, but I never stayed to see it being printed," the South Korean actress said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency. "Aside from everything else, Chairman Kim was highly communicative when it came to culture and films. He was a man who learned about the world through movies."
Having played a gamut of roles from faithful widow to bar girl during her decades-long acting career, Choi faced a real-life drama stranger than any script she'd been given when she was kidnapped to Pyongyang in 1978. There, she made 17 films under the North Korean dictator's watchful eyes with her husband director Shin Sang-ok, who passed away in 2006.
"We were treated well (in North Korea), but could not really pursue an artistic career," Choi said. "They still call us traitors for fleeing."
The 79-year-old actress made headlines around the world after the abduction by the North. Kim, a widely known film buff, had wanted director Shin to work as his propagandist and for Choi to be the star, claiming their talents were being wasted in South Korea.
Previously divorced in the South, Shin and Choi remarried in Pyongyang and finally staged their escape in 1986 while on a state-sponsored trip to Vienna, requesting political asylum through the U.S. embassy. They returned to South Korea in 1999.
Kim Hak and Choi Eun-hee in Shin Sang-ok`s "A Flower in Hell"
While her husband continued to pursue his film career after returning to Seoul, Choi has since retired. But she is still regarded as one of the biggest female stars of the mid-century Golden Era of Korean cinema, having starred in nearly 100 films since her movie debut in 1947.
Choi was also selected as best actress at the Moscow International Film Festival in 1985 for her part in "Salt (Sogeum)" as one of the very first Korean actresses to receive an international honor.
"Director Shin seemed happier than I was when I received the award," Choi said with a smile. "We were like light and shadow as partners. He always trusted me in acting and left me to make full decision."
Born in 1930, Choi was a shy young woman before she stumbled into the world of acting. Although she led a successful life career-wise, her personal life was not so glamorous with her first husband, who reportedly was abusive and work-shy.
"My first marriage came when I was too young," Choi recalled.
In 1953, Choi met Shin, then a dashing young director who would later become the love of her life. What started out to be a platonic relationship between a director and the married actress took an unexpected turn when observers began to accuse them of adultery.
"The accusations actually had a reverse effect and we were married shortly afterwards," Choi said. "He proposed not with 'I love you,' but with 'How would you like to make movies with me forever?'"
Together, Choi and Shin produced memorable classics such as "Mother and a Guest in the Room of Master (1961)" and "Bound by Chastity Rules (1962)." But the two divorced after Shin had an extramarital affair, only to be reunited five years later.
Actress Choi Eun-hee with her late husband director Shin Sang-ok. /Courtesy of publisher Random House Korea
"When I reunited with him in North Korea, I felt like I had met an army to protect me in a land so alone and scary," Choi said. "As an artist, I can give him a full 10 points out of 10. As a husband, director Shin will get a zero. His whole life was about cinema."
"I can't believe he is gone. I still feel as though he is around me all the time," she added.
The veteran actress expressed her lingering passion towards acting, saying she still feels "an urge to run up to the stage" every time she goes to see a play.
Although less known to the public as a director, Choi was also one of Korea's pioneering women directors who made three features between 1965 and 1972 with strong female characters dealing with class conflicts.
Choi said directing films remained among her many passions.
"It is such a difficult job to be a female director owing to physical frailty, but I do sometimes consider the possibility of a return to directing," she said.
(서울=연합뉴스) 김지연 신혜인 기자 = "김정일 국방위원장은 다른 건 몰라도, 영화에 있어서만큼은 굉장히 소통이 잘 되는 사람이었어요. 우리가 알기에 그토록 무서운 사람이 어떻게 그렇게 문화적 소양이 있고 문화를 사랑하는지 신기했죠"
3주기를 맞은 남편 고(故) 신상옥 감독의 행적을 기리는 활동을 벌이고 있는 원로 배우 최은희(79) 씨는 최근 연합뉴스와 인터뷰에서 신 감독과의 만남, 배우로서 활동, 납북 생활 등을 털어놨다.
북한에 납치돼 8년 정도 지내면서 신 감독과 영화 17편을 만든 그는 "소재 선택과 작품 활동은 자유롭게 할 수 있었다"고 말했다.
"북한 영화를 봤더니 거의 이데올로기 위주였고 일반 영화는 볼 수 없었어요. 우리한테는 소재 선택 등을 완전히 맡겼죠. 그래서 신 감독이 이념을 떠나 예술을 할 수 있었고, 북한영화로는 처음 수출도 한 거죠. '돌아오지 않은 밀사'를 만들 때 북한 영화로는 처음 외국과 궁중 장면을 찍었어요"
그는 김 위원장에 대해 "문화적으로 열정이 대단하고 굉장히 머리도 좋은 사람이었다"고 말했다.
"작품을 다 검열할 정도로 관심이 있었어요. 김 위원장은 심지어 무용을 악보로 만들 정도로 열심이었어요. 한국영화뿐 아니라 외국영화 1만5천편 정도 소장하고 혼자 보면서 세계를 영화로 공부한다고 하더군요."
그는 "북한에서 정신적 고통만 있었을 뿐 예술가로 깍듯이 예우해 줬고 경제적으로도 대우를 많이 받았다"며 "그렇지만 진정한 예술 작품을 하기는 힘들었다"고 덧붙였다.
최씨는 신 감독 3주기를 맞은 소회에 대해 "돌아가신 지 엊그제 같은데 3주기라니 착잡하다"며 "주위에 계속 계신 느낌"이라고 말했다.
그는 신 감독을 다큐멘터리 '코리아'로 처음 만났고 연극 도중 액션 장면이 너무 힘들어 쓰러졌을 때 신 감독이 안고 병원에 간 인연으로 같이 살게 됐다고 말했다.
"감독과 여배우 관계로 지냈는데 스캔들로 번졌어요. 그 반사작용으로 더 가까워지게 됐죠. 신 감독은 '사랑한다, 좋아한다'가 아니라 '평생 같이 영화 찍지 않을래'라고 프러포즈했어요. 그런데 그는 예술가로서, 애인으로서 100점이지만 가장으로서는 0점이었죠. 그의 모든 생활과 인생은 영화에 대한 것이었어요"
최씨는 신 감독과 자신을 "빛과 그림자 같은 사이"라고 말하면서 함께한 추억이 너무 많아 추려내기도 어렵다고 말했다.
"20여 년 결혼생활하다가 헤어져 있었는데, 북한에서 만나니 허허벌판에서 백만대군 만난 것 같은 기분이더군요. 또 모스크바 영화제에서 상을 탈 때, 나보다도 더 좋아하던 것, 돌아가시기 얼마 전에 처음으로 사랑한다고 말했던 것이 기억나요. 서운했던 것은 다 잊고 더 잘해 드릴 걸하는 아쉬움만 남았죠."
배우로서 그는 "아직도 현장이 생생히 기억난다"면서 대화 없이 감정표현을 해야 했던 '사랑방 손님과 어머니'와 추위 속에 고생하며 찍었던 '성춘향'을 가장 애착이 가는 작품으로 꼽았다.
또 배우로서의 변신도 늘 고민했다고 덧붙였다. "평생 많은 작품을 했는데, '지옥화', '로맨스 그레이'가 그 중 파격적 역할이었죠. 늘 정형화된 역할 탓에 매너리즘에 빠지는 것 같아서 우겨서 했던 영화들이죠. 연기자는 폭이 넓어야 한다고 생각해 신 감독이 만류했는데도 했어요"
그는 "요즘에는 영화, 연극, TV 구별할 것 없이 모두 연기로 통하는 시대인 것 같다"며 "내 인생 자체가 연기고, 연기가 내 인생이니 연기를 위해서 계속 나아가며 꿋꿋이 인생 마무리할 수 있을 것 같다"고 말했다.
"아직도 무대 공연을 보러 가면 뛰어올라가고 싶은 충동을 느껴요. 6월 명동극장 개관식 때 잠깐이나마 무대 올라갈 기회가 있을 것 같습니다. 연출이요? 감독 일이 너무 힘든 일이지만 마음에 꼭 드는 작품이 있다면 생각해 보려 해요"
(인터뷰) 영화배우 최은희
(Yonhap Interview) Veteran actress shares real-life drama, lingering dreams
By Shin Hae-in
SEOUL, April 20 (Yonhap) -- He is the leader of a "rogue" state that rigidly feeds its nuclear ambitions. He reportedly enslaves his own people and executes anyone who tries to escape his impoverished land. But actress Choi Eun-hee recalls North Korean leader Kim Jong-il as an impressive culture devotee so dedicated that he would write down dance moves on paper.
"He was the first man I met who attempted to make a 'dance notation.' I was curious how dance moves could be transformed onto paper, but I never stayed to see it being printed," the South Korean actress said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency. "Aside from everything else, Chairman Kim was highly communicative when it came to culture and films. He was a man who learned about the world through movies."
Having played a gamut of roles from faithful widow to bar girl during her decades-long acting career, Choi faced a real-life drama stranger than any script she'd been given when she was kidnapped to Pyongyang in 1978. There, she made 17 films under the North Korean dictator's watchful eyes with her husband director Shin Sang-ok, who passed away in 2006.
"We were treated well (in North Korea), but could not really pursue an artistic career," Choi said. "They still call us traitors for fleeing."
The 79-year-old actress made headlines around the world after the abduction by the North. Kim, a widely known film buff, had wanted director Shin to work as his propagandist and for Choi to be the star, claiming their talents were being wasted in South Korea.
Previously divorced in the South, Shin and Choi remarried in Pyongyang and finally staged their escape in 1986 while on a state-sponsored trip to Vienna, requesting political asylum through the U.S. embassy. They returned to South Korea in 1999.
While her husband continued to pursue his film career after returning to Seoul, Choi has since retired. But she is still regarded as one of the biggest female stars of the mid-century Golden Era of Korean cinema, having starred in nearly 100 films since her movie debut in 1947.
Choi was also selected as best actress at the Moscow International Film Festival in 1985 for her part in "Salt (Sogeum)" as one of the very first Korean actresses to receive an international honor.
"Director Shin seemed happier than I was when I received the award," Choi said with a smile. "We were like light and shadow as partners. He always trusted me in acting and left me to make full decision."
Born in 1930, Choi was a shy young woman before she stumbled into the world of acting. Although she led a successful life career-wise, her personal life was not so glamorous with her first husband, who reportedly was abusive and work-shy.
"My first marriage came when I was too young," Choi recalled.
In 1953, Choi met Shin, then a dashing young director who would later become the love of her life. What started out to be a platonic relationship between a director and the married actress took an unexpected turn when observers began to accuse them of adultery.
"The accusations actually had a reverse effect and we were married shortly afterwards," Choi said. "He proposed not with 'I love you,' but with 'How would you like to make movies with me forever?'"
Together, Choi and Shin produced memorable classics such as "Mother and a Guest in the Room of Master (1961)" and "Bound by Chastity Rules (1962)." But the two divorced after Shin had an extramarital affair, only to be reunited five years later.
"When I reunited with him in North Korea, I felt like I had met an army to protect me in a land so alone and scary," Choi said. "As an artist, I can give him a full 10 points out of 10. As a husband, director Shin will get a zero. His whole life was about cinema."
"I can't believe he is gone. I still feel as though he is around me all the time," she added.
The veteran actress expressed her lingering passion towards acting, saying she still feels "an urge to run up to the stage" every time she goes to see a play.
Although less known to the public as a director, Choi was also one of Korea's pioneering women directors who made three features between 1965 and 1972 with strong female characters dealing with class conflicts.
Choi said directing films remained among her many passions.
"It is such a difficult job to be a female director owing to physical frailty, but I do sometimes consider the possibility of a return to directing," she said.
hayney@yna.co.kr
최은희 "김정일, 영화만큼은 소통 잘돼"
(서울=연합뉴스) 김지연 신혜인 기자 = "김정일 국방위원장은 다른 건 몰라도, 영화에 있어서만큼은 굉장히 소통이 잘 되는 사람이었어요. 우리가 알기에 그토록 무서운 사람이 어떻게 그렇게 문화적 소양이 있고 문화를 사랑하는지 신기했죠"
3주기를 맞은 남편 고(故) 신상옥 감독의 행적을 기리는 활동을 벌이고 있는 원로 배우 최은희(79) 씨는 최근 연합뉴스와 인터뷰에서 신 감독과의 만남, 배우로서 활동, 납북 생활 등을 털어놨다.
북한에 납치돼 8년 정도 지내면서 신 감독과 영화 17편을 만든 그는 "소재 선택과 작품 활동은 자유롭게 할 수 있었다"고 말했다.
"북한 영화를 봤더니 거의 이데올로기 위주였고 일반 영화는 볼 수 없었어요. 우리한테는 소재 선택 등을 완전히 맡겼죠. 그래서 신 감독이 이념을 떠나 예술을 할 수 있었고, 북한영화로는 처음 수출도 한 거죠. '돌아오지 않은 밀사'를 만들 때 북한 영화로는 처음 외국과 궁중 장면을 찍었어요"
그는 김 위원장에 대해 "문화적으로 열정이 대단하고 굉장히 머리도 좋은 사람이었다"고 말했다.
"작품을 다 검열할 정도로 관심이 있었어요. 김 위원장은 심지어 무용을 악보로 만들 정도로 열심이었어요. 한국영화뿐 아니라 외국영화 1만5천편 정도 소장하고 혼자 보면서 세계를 영화로 공부한다고 하더군요."
그는 "북한에서 정신적 고통만 있었을 뿐 예술가로 깍듯이 예우해 줬고 경제적으로도 대우를 많이 받았다"며 "그렇지만 진정한 예술 작품을 하기는 힘들었다"고 덧붙였다.
최씨는 신 감독 3주기를 맞은 소회에 대해 "돌아가신 지 엊그제 같은데 3주기라니 착잡하다"며 "주위에 계속 계신 느낌"이라고 말했다.
그는 신 감독을 다큐멘터리 '코리아'로 처음 만났고 연극 도중 액션 장면이 너무 힘들어 쓰러졌을 때 신 감독이 안고 병원에 간 인연으로 같이 살게 됐다고 말했다.
"감독과 여배우 관계로 지냈는데 스캔들로 번졌어요. 그 반사작용으로 더 가까워지게 됐죠. 신 감독은 '사랑한다, 좋아한다'가 아니라 '평생 같이 영화 찍지 않을래'라고 프러포즈했어요. 그런데 그는 예술가로서, 애인으로서 100점이지만 가장으로서는 0점이었죠. 그의 모든 생활과 인생은 영화에 대한 것이었어요"
최씨는 신 감독과 자신을 "빛과 그림자 같은 사이"라고 말하면서 함께한 추억이 너무 많아 추려내기도 어렵다고 말했다.
"20여 년 결혼생활하다가 헤어져 있었는데, 북한에서 만나니 허허벌판에서 백만대군 만난 것 같은 기분이더군요. 또 모스크바 영화제에서 상을 탈 때, 나보다도 더 좋아하던 것, 돌아가시기 얼마 전에 처음으로 사랑한다고 말했던 것이 기억나요. 서운했던 것은 다 잊고 더 잘해 드릴 걸하는 아쉬움만 남았죠."
배우로서 그는 "아직도 현장이 생생히 기억난다"면서 대화 없이 감정표현을 해야 했던 '사랑방 손님과 어머니'와 추위 속에 고생하며 찍었던 '성춘향'을 가장 애착이 가는 작품으로 꼽았다.
또 배우로서의 변신도 늘 고민했다고 덧붙였다. "평생 많은 작품을 했는데, '지옥화', '로맨스 그레이'가 그 중 파격적 역할이었죠. 늘 정형화된 역할 탓에 매너리즘에 빠지는 것 같아서 우겨서 했던 영화들이죠. 연기자는 폭이 넓어야 한다고 생각해 신 감독이 만류했는데도 했어요"
그는 "요즘에는 영화, 연극, TV 구별할 것 없이 모두 연기로 통하는 시대인 것 같다"며 "내 인생 자체가 연기고, 연기가 내 인생이니 연기를 위해서 계속 나아가며 꿋꿋이 인생 마무리할 수 있을 것 같다"고 말했다.
"아직도 무대 공연을 보러 가면 뛰어올라가고 싶은 충동을 느껴요. 6월 명동극장 개관식 때 잠깐이나마 무대 올라갈 기회가 있을 것 같습니다. 연출이요? 감독 일이 너무 힘든 일이지만 마음에 꼭 드는 작품이 있다면 생각해 보려 해요"
http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=103&oid=001&aid=0002618285