Joint Security Area (2000)

People are voting emotionally.

What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

The Joint Security Area (JSA) refers to the North and South Korean border. A tense and formal area manned on both sides by armed soldiers. By day a South Korean tourist attraction manned by uniformed expressionless guards 8 feet apart, by night the sides withdraw to either side of a bridge in manned posts perhaps 100 metres apart. The no-man's land alongside the bridge is patrolled by teams who must be ever wary of the presence of booby traps or land mines.On one night though shots ring out, 2 North Korean soldiers are killed, apparently by a South Korean soldier named Sgt Lee Soo Hyuk on a road who has confessed but refuses to talk further. In fact neither side wants to talk about it.Lee Soo Hyuk is condemned by the Northern forces and protected by the South, with each party possessing such a strong bias a neutral investigation is commenced lead by Major Sophie Jean, a Swiss resident with Korean ties and a mastery of the language.In interviews and flashbacks the real story gradually unfolds, nothing is as simple – or funnily enough as complicated – as it first seems.It is not fair to the film to say much more, I will say that it takes time for the real events to unravel but it is worth the wait. Being a Park Chan-Wook film it is well acted and immaculately paced, and JSA also contains some moments of great innocence and humanity. In fact the final truth is far more 'boring' and human than anyone might guess from the serious tone of the first few minutes.The film is laid out in three chapters, the first shows the viewpoint of the investigators, the second the actual events from the soldier's point of view and the third the conclusion and ultimately the truth.JSA is never less than intriguing and even though it isn't as great as the Vengeance trilogy it possesses perhaps the strongest final frame in almost any film that I can recall.Final Rating – 8 / 10. A who-dunnit with a difference. An extremely effective drama with a strong cast, a great plot and the usual exceptional direction of a modern day master.

I may have been a little swift in titling this review. It most certainly is no Romance, nor is it any kind of a period drama. JSA is however, one of the finest tragedies I have had the pleasure of watching in recent years (and certain elements of the bards famous tale are certainly hidden under the cover of a fine political drama). A precursor to Chan-Wook Parks excellent 'Vengeance' trilogy, this is the calling card any director should wish they could leave. I must admit, when the first five minutes of the film had finished, I verged on going in to shut down mode. The little part of me that doubts maestros came creeping in and started fiddling with my remote controlling fingers. Mr. Park, as it turned out, had other plans. Before I knew it, I was hooked on the stellar performances as they guided me along the same railway tracks of the script which we knew would only end in tragedy. I watched as the camera eschewed poetic quill strokes which would shame most Mamet wannabes of today. This also served as a powerful message. Perhaps a little too idealistic and romanticised for the all too bleak world we have to live in, but this film managed to put aside political differences for a few precious celluloid frames to create one of the greatest friendships I might have seen if the Lenny Smalls and George Milton in Of Mice and Men had just made it through the depression and it shows you what Butch and Sundance might have said to one another if they had turned up at each others bachelor do's for their last goodbyes. But this is not the case, and we know it all too soon. In most cases, when I finish one of my Asia movies reviews, I find my self asking why the west can not make a film like this. In this case I will not say that. Instead I will state 'Keep away from this one America. Do not try to tamper with it with any attempt of a remake, adaptation or manipulation. This is one Da Vinci which should be left behind protected glass, only making an appearance to the west in the form of a Wish you were here post card. Watch and learn, but admire from a distance.' Had this been the first Park film I had seen, I would have gladly waited for a decade for his follow up. Had Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance been his last, I would have gladly waited for the same. Instead, we have since been treated with two tragic-feasts which are just waiting to be viewed, and viewed they should be. Watch them, admire them, review them, and then spread the gospel truth. Chan-Wook Park is one of the new breed, true to his goals and honest with his creations. This is no Frankenstein's Monster, rather the perfect result of an experiment gone right. And to think, JSA is available wherever you go. Food for thought?

Joint Security Area is a complex early work of Park Chan-Wook, combining a military political thriller with a meditation on the brotherhood of man. Although it does not reach the heights of his later works such as Old Boy and Thirst, it is an early demonstration of his ample talent, and features several actors who would figure prominently in his later work.Tensions on the Korean peninsula escalate wildly in the wake of a shooting incident just over the North Korean border, in which a South Korean soldier is the culprit. A Swiss soldier of Korean descent is sent as a neutral investigator. However, what initially appears to be a story of international aggression by either one side or the other soon turns out to be something far more complex, and tragic.This film showcases the things that made Park Chan-Wook's later films classics. It weaves a complex, non-linear storyline with the innovative cinematography that make all of his films beautiful. Furthermore, the performances by Lee Young Ae and Song Kang-ho are powerful, prefiguring their fine turns in Sympathy for Lady Vengeance and Thirst, respectively.Although this film did not show the level of creativity associated with Park's best work, such as Old Boy, it is more than worthy of being sought out by fans of his other films.

Korea is a divided country and Panmunjom, where North meets South, is an area where tension inevitably runs high. When a shooting incident there leaves two Northern soldiers dead, Major. Sophie E. Jean, (the gorgeous Yeong-ae Lee) of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission, is called in to head the investigation. A South Korean soldier, Sgt. Lee Soo-hyeok (Byung-hun Lee), takes responsibility for the killings, claiming he was kidnapped by the North, and that he shot the men as he attempted to escape.But as Sophie slowly unravels the truth, she learns that the reality is far more tragic and, in a series of flashbacks, we get to witness the events leading up to the shooting: Sgt. Lee straying into the Northern half of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and accidentally treading on a mine; his rescue by 'the enemy'—two guards who work a stone's throw from Lee's own post, just on the other side of the border; and Lee's eventual friendship with his rescuers, which sees him crossing into the North at night to spend time with his new pals.After a while, Lee introduces his trusted workmate to his new 'brothers'. The four become close friends, and spend time together drinking, gambling and playing games—that is until the night when their secret is discovered and things go remarkably pear-shaped!I first experienced the work of director Chan-wook Park when I watched the brilliant Oldboy (2003)—a gripping, violent and bloody tale of revenge. My next choice was Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance, which was made one year previous to Oldboy, but which failed to impress me as much.JSA was made in 2000, and I feared that, possibly, I might like this even less, since the subject matter didn't particularly appeal to me. I needn't have worried: Joint Security Area is a magnificent film that tells a gripping story whilst also delivering a poignant message about the stupidity of war.Beautifully shot and carefully pieced together, this amazing film builds slowly, but surely, until the compelling ending when tragedy inevitably strikes. Only the slightly confusing 'shootout scene' at the end of the film stops me from giving this film a perfect 10, although one does not need to fully understand the details of this moment to recognise the brilliance of JSA, nor feel its powerful message.