Whenever I think of Choi Eunhee, the word ‘Destiny’ comes to my mind.
She met Sin Sang-ok out of destiny and together with him created the golden age of Korean movies. In the age of division between the North and the South, she was kidnapped in Hong Kong and taken to North Korea. Director Shin Sangok who was married to someone else then, was also kidnapped and imprisoned in the North for 5 years. He met Choi Eunhee there and they would come to make a movie together in the North; it was a destiny of love.
It was in 1966 that I first saw Choi Eunhee. I was invited to be on the cover of the best student magazine, Academy. In those days, people waited in line for this magazine. I went to the filming site and there she was, the best actress of the time, Choi Eunhee. She was there to model for the cover of The Life of Housewives, another famous magazine. We each took pictures; I wasn’t wearing any makeup, and she was in a fancy dress and fancy makeup.
I met her again, and properly, in 1994 September. I interviewed her with Shin Sangok (she had escaped from the North to Vienna, and came to LA after living in Virginia, US).
Shin Sangok and Choi Eun-hee were the hardest to cast among the ten people I did direct interviews for while working as production advisor for Cheil Worldwide after I came back to Korea from the US.
They were constantly under threat of assassination, and were living under the protection of the CIA. They kept turning down my request for the direct interview for self-protection.
After many twists and turns, I interviewed them for 8 hours at their living room which they said was tapped.
I met them from time to time after they came back to Korea, but at the funeral of Shin Sangok, her man of destiny, Choi Eunhee was haggard like a dead person.
Whether it was North Korea or South Korea, they were always together and have lived a life more spectacular than a movie. But after Shin Sangok’s death, Choi Eunhee probably remained alone and maintained a scanty existence.
Recently, she passed away and many actors and actresses are writing memoirs about her. But I think the video I recorded after they escaped from the North is as vivid as any. It shows them as they went around with me for a week, talking, cooking, and eating meals with me. I finally found the documentary piece I designed, casted, and directed 22 years ago and have posted it here.
