Customer Reviews

Joint Security Area

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

One incredible tightly-woven story drives this political thriller of friends and enemies along the Joint Security Area (JSA) between North and South Korea.

An apparent exchange of hostilities leaves two soldiers of the North Korean Army dead. Another is wounded, and a fourth soldier -- a South Korean soldier -- appears to be the hero ... but is he? As both sides refuse to allow an investigation to prove anything conclusive, a Neutral Nations officer -- a woman -- is brought in to uncover the truth ... but will she?

Being perfectly honest, I purchased JSA solely on the basis of the recommendation of AZNFilms.com, and I have to say that I wasn't disappointed in the least. Comparisons to SHIRI are very off-base in that -- politics aside -- SHIRI is a great formula action film from start to finish ... but JSA is a pure political thriller. It is a 'thinking man's action film' where the action is a result of the plot and not because of the character's motivations (with one notable exception I won't give away to spoil the surprise). However, this film's script keeps you guessing and even delivers tremendous surprise up until the very last frame!

Again, JSA is not intended for fans of the John Woo mentality (and I'm a huge fan of Woo's work). This is a drama -- which deservedly won many at the Korean Film Awards -- but certainly stands up to most American films easily. In fact, I would have to say that I never saw what all of the excitement was about MYSTIC RIVER -- a rather conventional crime drama -- but there's plenty to get excited about in JSA.

I'll be watching this one again this weekend.

Those who study, or have lived in, Korea will appreciate the dynamism and importance of this impeccably made film. Outside of a passing awareness most Americans have no idea what the split nations of south and north Korea mean. This film captures, in a slowly building awareness, the true tragedy and heart break that is the modern Korean nation: one racially, ethnically and culturally monolithic people harshly divided in two with one the last vestige of a dead socioeconomic theory (communism) and the other a raging Asian Tiger and the world's 11th largest economy. While the north has clearly lost this last stand off of the Cold War, the nations remain divided and JSA does a superb job of bringing this into the human dimension. Note the subtle jabs at the US as well as the neutral nations. This gives Americans a view into a world most do not understand, but one that could consume our military in a flash. Not to be missed.

Living in South Korea gives you a chance to get some idea of the heart breaking reality of this divided country. As Americans we have no concept of how it must feel to be in this situation. To see this film is to get a "taste" of the reality. To feel the horrible pain and taste the tears -- friends gained only to be lost to bloodshed!! I cannot even imagine what it must be like to see this film as a Korean. I have many Korean friends here in this beautiful country I now call my home(for the next few years). After seeing this, I feel differently than I did before seeing it. I feel like I have grown as a human after the experience watching JSA has given me. I think everyone living in Korea certainly should see this film. It wouldnt hurt all Americans to see it to understand how a country divided hurts the soul. Excellent film.

*
Spotlighted as one of the most expensive & highest grossing domestic Korean films to date (ranking third in overall audience attendance in Korea for a domestic film, just behind "Chingu" ["Friend"] and "Shiri" [or "Swiri"], and just ahead of the quirky romantic comedy "Yeopgijeogin Geunyeo" [aka "My Sassy Girl"], "JOINT SECURITY AREA" -- (Korean title: "Gongdong Kyeongbi Kuyeok - JSA") -- is one of those stories which starts off confusingly, but by the end ties everything together neatly and beautifully with some of the most sincere and genuine raw emotion ever experienced in a feature film.

"JSA" begins with a couple of contradictory flashbacks of an assassination-type event which takes place in a guardshack North of the DMZ (demilitarized zone) in the Joint Security Area, each based on the 'official version' of the story as propogated by North and South. As the film progresses, we are pulled along by a third and equally contradictory flashback, this one apparently revealing the truth not only of that fateful night's event which nearly ignited a small war between the two Koreas, but also giving us insight as to what led up to that point, and does so very tenderly and emotionally.

The story revolves around an 'illegal' friendship forged between two pairs of soldiers stationed on opposite sides of the DMZ in the Joint Security Area, which began as a result of a nighttime border patrol team in the South getting disoriented and venturing too far north, accidently venturing into Kim Jung-Il's Communist state where one of the soldiers gets separated from the rest of the group and becomes stranded under frightening and dire circumstances in what is one of the most tense and dramatic moments of the film.

A secret correspondence is later initiated by the prodigal Southern soldier with the two Northern soldiers he encountered on that harrowing night. Before long, he receives an invitation to 'cross over the bridge which divides the two Koreas'-- literally and figuratively --and almost without hesitation accepts the offer to drop in for an "unauthorized (to say the least) visit."

No 'sensative secrets' are ever revealed or exchanged during these illegal meetings (as one of the Southern soldiers declares, "We don't know anything, anyway"); What 'secrets' ARE exchanged, though, are those which come from the heart: stories of friends, family, homelife, personal goals, and hopes for a reunified nation of "brothers" fractured by ideological differences. It was also a nice touch that never at any time-- except in a moment of genuine curiousity or as a gesture of offered protection --does anyone of either side try to entice any of the others to defect to the other side.

But as with all beautifully and honestly executed thought-provoking cinematic masterpieces, something goes terribly wrong during one of the illegal visits, which results in "murder" (quote/unquote), cover-up, and threatened outbreak of war. It is left to a neutral investgative board to uncover the truth of what took place on that dark rainy night, and the case is assigned to a Korean native raised in Switzerland who carries with her a secret of her own which could raise questions about her 'objectivity' and very likely jeopardize her investigation even as the truth gradually unfolds .

Why this film never saw nationwide theatrical release in the U.S., apart from a few sporadic "film festival" venues, is completely beyond my comprehension. Perhaps seeing how well made this movie was, and how it held its own in its homeland by practically putting "Titanic's" Korean box office recepts to shame, maybe Hollywood got scared that its ego would get bruised even further if American audiences (already apathetic and dissatisfied with the declining quality of Hollywood films and their self-eroding committment to excellence) had wide access to this "foreign" film and responded favorably, as they surely would have.

Unlike many foreign films, which sometimes require a considerable amount of knowledge of the native culture to be genuinely appreciated and/or enjoyable, "Joint Security Area" is truly an "international" film, one to which anyone anywhere can easily relate. If allowed, this one movie could probably do a much more effective job of moving Korean reunification talks forward than all of the bureaucratic 'diplomacy' of the past decade.

* * *

This is the movie that lent me a first peek into the collective consciousness of the South Korean people. It is a love letter from the South to the North. Given the fact it set box office record when it opened in Korea, I conclude most Koreans subscribe to the movie's sentiments, and that makes them a loving, tolerant and sensible people in my mind.

If one's to draw analogy between this and other movies, "Dr. Strangelove" and "The Americanization of Emily" come to mind. All three carried similar messages: War is absurd; in a paranoid and hostile world, reason, intellect and humanity are no match for some lunatics or brain-washed zealots. (BTW, I think Americanization of Emily should've ended with the Omaha Beach landing scene.) All three are extremely apt in driving their powerful messages home. Of the three, JSA is the most aesthetically pleasing and emotionally intimate. It portrays the preciousness of life and friendship so beautifully, and death and destruction so relentlessly, that the audiences have no choice but to be affected.

It is not perfect. The English language scenes are weak as some earlier reviews indicated, but they are brief and don't affect the flow and mood of the film.

Definitely not to be missed and destined to be a classic.

At times the film's narrative is tedious and the acting skills of the female lead is annoying--indeed, almost embarrassing at times. (I have seen her in different films and she is best suited for melodramas.) Yet I gave the film a five-star rating because it deals with plethora of issues--cultural, historical, geopolitical, and interpersonal--originating from the division of the Korean peninsula along the demilitarized zone. Previous reviews provide a good understanding of the film plot, so I will not bore others with a descrition. My purpose, rather, is to illuminate potential viewers of this film of some interesting real-life fact. A fact that, in my personal view, is precisely the reason that this film is so relevant to our understanding of the two Koreas. Within months of the film's release in Korea, a South Korea Army lieutanent was found dead in his platoon's bunker located along the DMZ. Although the South Korean military investigators ruled his death a suicide, the persistence of the dead officer's father, who happened to be a retired South Korean Army general, for the truth resulted in a reinvestigation and the arrest of the lieutanent's own squad leader, a non-commissioned officer (a SGT for those unfamiliar with army lingo). The investigation revealed that the NCO, who had been in contact with a North Korean soldider, killed his platoon leader when his illegal activities was found out by the same platoon leader. Fearing certain prosecution by the South Korean military authorities, the NCO staged the murder as a suicide. The NCO revelaed that he had received an expensive Swiss-made writswatch from his North Korean contact. He had fallen under the control of a North Korean Psychological Warfare officer whose mission was to recruit South Korean soldiers stationed along the DMZ.

Given this real life drama which took place the same year the movie came out, I can't help but think that the film has a real, legitimate tales to tell about what it means to face a fellow Korean with guns, never knowing if reunification of their nation could ever be achieved. In this sense, the film leaves viewer with the same bitter sense of futility faced by individual soldiers who must act out a foregone conclusion of a military confrontation, whether hot or cold, just as the German film Stanlingrad.

A real gem. Must see.

After hearing many positive comments about this movie, I bought it. This is a "world class" movie in that it is high quiality acting, production, etc. The plot - a bit far fetched; but "if you were Korean," you'd hope it was true to some extent. There has been no peace in Korea since 1945. The Korean War divided the country much as the civil war could have done to the USA. There is always hope that there will be reunification and this movie does a great job building that hope. Having personally spent a total of more than fifteen years in Korea, I have been to the JSA many times. My book "Sleeping Dragon" ends in the JSA. Believe me, they build a true to life mock-up of the JSA for this movie. If you haven't been there, watch the movie.

I am a Korean and watched 'Joint Security Area' when in freshman year of university. I spent my childhood under anti-communism(exactly saying, Anti-North Korea) education and believed that North Koreans have devil¡¯s horns and tails. Now, I¡¯m grown up enough to realize the fear was just crammed by the policy which wanted children to have the blind hatred for North Korea. However, after the removing the fear, because the fear was the only feeling for North Koreans that I had, the image of them had been left obscure in my mind for a long time. However this film gave me the chance to think about sincerely what meaning North Korea has for me. Though I do not still have the clear viewpoint of North Korea, at least the start is significant.
This film keenly describes the dilemma that both North and South Koreans have at the base of hearts. The dilemma-whenever they see each other, they cannot but find ¡®brothers¡¯ in ¡®the group of hostile ideology¡¯. Especially the scene of the farewell party in the film implies that the dilemmatic emotion is another link between North and South Koreans share. (Kim Kwang-suk, whom O Kyung-pil(acted by Song Gang-ho) toasted, is the singer of the background music, ¡°À̵îº'ÀÇ ÆíÁö A Private¡¯s Letter¡± at the scene. I don¡¯t know even the lyric is translated in the DVD version, yet,) The song¡¯s lyric is that a young man, who, in the compulsory military service, has to level a gun at the ¡®foe¡¯ against his will, farewells to his irrevocable youthful days. The reason that the song was the favorite of both O Kyung-pil and Lee Su-heok(acted by Lee Beong-heon) is because the young man in the lyric is their own portraits.
It is true that North Korea has threatened the world peace. Nevertheless, in the shell of ¡®Rougue State¡¯, ¡®the Axis of Evil¡¯, or whatever, South Korean cannot but find their Lost Brother.'Joint Security Area' delivers the dilemmatic sentiment, and it shows that this film is not just for amusement.

Joint Security Area drew many comparisons with Shiri, as it dealt with the same conflict and had some of the actors in both films. Joint Security Area (often referred as JSA by Korean audience) is not an action film per se, as Shiri was, and the story takes place in the Demilitarized Zone, an area that serves as a buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea, and describes the relationship between a South Korean soldier who befriends North Korean soldiers. Interestingly, JSA drew more audience than Shiri.
JSA is not an action film as Shiri was, but rather focused its theme to the unreal place, which is the Demilitarized Zone, or DMZ. DMZ is a neutral piece of land between the Koreas, where tensions are high due to possible military engagment by North Korea. If a war was to take place again, it would start from DMZ. Yet somehow a South Korean soldier finds friendship with couple of North Korean soldiers, and despite the initial hostility, they find common culural ties within themselves and grow close to each other.
I liked JSA far better than Shiri, as it dealt with characters who were more believable and apporachable as compared to Shiri. The atmosphere of the DMZ is captured quite nicely also. It is simply a better film. JSA is certainly a milestone in Korean cinema, albeit in a different way Shiri was.

five strars for the movie and one star for this dvd release. korean release is far more superior with many more extras.