''My Dictator'' () is a 2014 South Korean film directed and co-written by

Lee Hae-jun Lee Hae-jun (born August 18, 1973) is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. He wrote and directed '' Like a Virgin'' (2006), '' Castaway on the Moon'' (2009), and '' My Dictator'' (2014). Career As screenwriter Lee Hae-jun studied adve ...

, starring

Sul Kyung-gu Sul Kyung-gu (; born May 14, 1967) is a South Korean actor. Upon his graduation in 1994, he appeared in numerous theatrical productions, such as the hit Korean adaptation of the German rock musical '' Subway Line 1'', and productions of Sam Shep ...

and

Park Hae-il Park Hae-il (; born 26 January 1977) is a South Korean actor. He began his acting career in theater, but soon gained the film industry's attention in 2003 with '' Scent of Love'' and '' Memories of Murder''. Park's film career took off, with lea ...

Plot

After the North-South Korea Joint Statement on July 4, 1972, reunification fervor briefly sweeps over the

Korean Peninsula Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically divided at or near the 38th parallel between North Korea (Dem ...

. The

Korean Central Intelligence Agency The National Intelligence Service (NIS; ) is the chief intelligence agency of South Korea. The agency was officially established in 1961 as the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA; ), during the rule of general Park Chung Hee's military Sup ...

is forced to prepare for what could soon be the first inter-Korean summit and they are worried about

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Park Chung Hee Park Chung Hee (; ; November14, 1917October26, 1979) was a South Korean politician and army officer who served as the third president of South Korea from 1962 after he seized power in the May 16 coup of 1961 until Assassination of Park Chung ...

's meeting with the reclusive and potentially dangerous

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

n leader

Kim Il Sung Kim Il Sung (born Kim Song Ju; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he led as its first Supreme Leader (North Korean title), supreme leader from North Korea#Founding, its establishm ...

. They decide to stage an imaginary summit so that they can prepare Park for a variety of scenarios and outcomes. So the KCIA looks for an unknown (and bad) actor to play the

body double In filmmaking, a double is a person who substitutes for another actor such that the person's face is not shown. There are various terms associated with a double based on the specific body part or ability they serve as a double for, such as stunt ...

for Kim Il Sung. Kim Sung-geun earns his living doing odd jobs for a theater company, occasionally playing a walk-on part, and waiting for his big break. He gets cast in a small role as The Fool in

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...

'', but he forgets his lines due to

stage fright Stage fright or performance anxiety is the anxiety, fear, or persistent phobia that may be aroused in an individual by the requirement to perform in front of an audience, real or imagined, whether actually or potentially (for example, when perf ...

. Sung-geun not only ruins the show, but he feels shamed in front of his son Tae-sik, who was in the audience and had believed his father to be the greatest actor in the world. Backstage, the devastated Sung-geun is approached by Professor Heo, who praises his performance and tells him to show up at a "special audition." At the audition, Sung-geun is confused when the

casting director In the performing arts industry such as theatre, film, or television, casting, or a casting call, is a pre-production process for selecting a certain type of actor, dancer, singer, or extra to land the role of a character in a script, screenp ...

s all seem to be government scientists, and even when his performance goes terribly, he is told that it's exactly what they were looking for. He and 11 other actors pass the first round, then they're put on a bus and taken to the basement of the KCIA building where they are stripped, dragged into separate rooms and tortured. Too dumb to lie to his interrogators, Sung-geun is the only one left and gets chosen for the job. For Sung-geun, this is the role of a lifetime, and he puts his heart and soul into the performance, determined to have his acting acknowledged and to impress his son. But when the summit gets cancelled, Sung-geun cannot let go of his Kim Il Sung persona and continues to act like the North Korean leader. Frustrated at his father, the adult Tae-sik places Sung-geun in a nursing home and refuses to visit him for the next 20 years. But when Tae-sik gets in trouble with loan sharks in the 1990s, he is forced to reconnect with his estranged father, whose dilapidated home could solve his problem.

Cast

Main characters

as Kim Sung-geun *

as Tae-sik *

Yoon Je-moon Yoon Je-moon (born March 9, 1970) is a South Korean actor. He appears in theater, film and television, notably in the movies ''The Man Next Door'' (2010) and '' Dangerously Excited'' (2012), and the TV series '' The End of the World'' (2013). ...

as KCIA section chief Oh *

Lee Byung-joon Lee Byung-joon (; born January 27, 1964) is a South Korean actor. Active in film, television and theater since 1985, Lee is best known for his supporting roles in '' A Bloody Aria'' (2006), '' Highway Star'' (2007), and ''Eye for an Eye'' (2008) ...

as Professor Heo *

Ryu Hye-young Ryu Hye-young (; born March 28, 1991) is a South Korean actress and model. She is best known for her role in the hit drama series ''Reply 1988'' (2015–2016) and ''Law School A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of la ...

as Yeo-jung

Additional cast

Lee Kyu-hyung Lee Kyu-hyung (; born November 29, 1983) is a South Korean actor. Though primarily a musical actor, Lee has also appeared in a variety of Korean films and dramas. In 2017, Lee shot to fame with his portrayal of Yoo Han-yang in tvN's television ...

as Cheol-ju * Bae Sung-woo as President Baek *

Kim Dae-myung Kim Dae-myung (born February 16, 1981) is a South Korean actor. He began his acting career in theater, then rose to fame in the television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any con ...

as Stage Actor *

Shin Cheol-jin Shin Cheol-jin (; born 29 May 1956) is a South Korean actor. He made his debut in the 1976 play ''Naughty in the West''. Filmography Television series Film Awards and nominations * 2005 Korean Theater Actors Association Actor of the Year * ...

as Village foreman * Heo Joon-seok * Lee Hyun-geol * Jung In-gyeom * Kim Chul-moo *

Chae Soo-bin Bae Soo-bin (; born July 10, 1994), known professionally as Chae Soo-bin (), is a South Korean actress. She first gained recognition for her role in the television series ''Love in the Moonlight'' (2016), and transitioned into leading roles, n ...

Sung Yu-bin Sung Yoo-bin (born 25 July 2000) is a South Korean actor. Filmography Film Television series Web series Awards and nominations References External links * * * 2000 births Living people Male actors from Seoul ...

as Tae-sik (Middle school student) * Kim Young-woong as Mart staff *

Park Ji-hwan Park Ji-hwan (; born September 5, 1980) is a South Korean actor. He initially appeared in ''Yellow Hair'' (1999) and made his feature film debut in ''The City of Violence'' (2006). Since then, Park has performed in numerous movies and television ...

as Chief Adviser

Production

According to director

, "A few years ago, I came across an old photograph of my father and stared at it for a long time. In the picture, my father looked so young and strong. Is this really my father? He looked like a completely different person from the strict, somber, dictatorial dad I've known my entire life. I was suddenly curious to know what made my father the man he is now. I realized that, for one thing, he lived through a period filled with dictators, both in North and South Korea. The son never gets to see his father as a young man, but a father is only ever an old man to his children. It's a lonely fate, and he must blame and resent others for it. This film is a belated confession to my weak, frail, dictator of a father, and to fathers like him all over the world." ''My Dictator'' was among the 32 films chosen by the Hong Kong Asian Film Financing Forum ( HAF) in 2012. Financed by

Lotte Entertainment Lotte Entertainment () is a South Korean film producer and distributor and entertainment division under '' Lotte Cultureworks'' (), which is a Republic of Korea company that also houses '' Lotte Cinema'' (). History In September 2003, ''Lotte E ...

with a budget of , filming began at a small theater in

Namwon Namwon (, ) is a city in North Jeolla Province, South Korea. Namwon is about 50 minutes from the provincial capital of Jeonju, which is almost three hours away from Seoul. The official city flower is Royal Azalea () while the city tree is the ...

North Jeolla Province North Jeolla Province, officially Jeonbuk State (), is a Special Self-governing Province of South Korea in the Honam region in the southwest of the Korean Peninsula. Jeonbuk borders the provinces of South Chungcheong to the north, North Gyeo ...

on March 26, 2014. The three-month shoot finished on July 8, 2014, in Changsin-dong,

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:My Dictator 2014 films 2010s Korean-language films South Korean drama films Lotte Entertainment films Films about actors Films shot in Seoul 2010s South Korean films