It's about as subtle as one would expect from producer Kim Jong-il, with dialogue like “Pulgasari, why can't you just exercise some self-control, before there is nothing left?” The film also preaches the North Korean talking point that individuals are unimportant compared to the whole collective, starting with a hilariously obvious lesson of an elderly man refusing to stop and drink water until his work for the good of the village is complete. What is odd about the narrative, though, is that the film's human villain is, as mentioned above, a totalitarian ruler who to viewers outside of North Korea will look a lot like a stand-in for Kim Jong-il or Kim Jong-un, but the film is all about how North Korean people are in charge of their own destiny. The film is clearly trying to imply that the present North Korean government is on the side of the people, and against tyrany... but it seems like it would be easy for the movie to backfire and cause viewers to see their own ruler in the villain. In fact, since the director was an imprisoned South Korean being forced to make the film against his will, one almost can't help but wonder if that was a subversive message that he buried in the narrative on purpose. I suppose that North Korea is such a propaganda-dominated state that viewers would be conditioned not to connect those dots, but it is nonetheless baffling viewing from our perspective.