Joint Security Area (film)

Joint Security Area
Joint Security Area movie poster
Hangul	공동경비구역JSA
Hanja	共同警備區域JSA
RR	Gongdong Gyeongbi Guyeok JSA
MR	Kongdong Kyŏngbi Kuyŏk JSA
Directed by	Park Chan-wook
Produced by	Lee Eun
Written by	Park Sang-Yeon (novel) Jeong Seong-San Park Chan-wook Lee Mu-young
Starring	Lee Young Ae Lee Byung-hun Song Kang-ho
Music by	Cho Young-Wook
Cinematography	Kim Seong-bok
Editing by	Kim Sang-beom
Distributed by	CJ Entertainment
Release date(s)	September 9, 2000 (2000-09-09) (South Korea)
Running time	108 min.
Country	South Korea
Language	Korean English French German

Joint Security Area (공동경비구역 JSA) is a 2000 South Korean film starring Lee Young Ae, Lee Byung-hun and Song Kang-ho. It was directed by Park Chan-wook and is based on the novel DMZ by Park Sang-yeon. The film, which was shot on location in South Korea, concerns an investigation into the circumstances surrounding a fatal shooting incident within the DMZ, the heavily fortified border that separates North and South Korea.

It was the highest grossing film in Korean film history at the time and won Best Film at the 2000 Blue Dragon Awards and the 2001 Grand Bell Awards.

Plot

The film begins when two North Korean soldiers are killed in the DMZ at a North Korean border house. Alarms sound on both sides, and North and South Korean soldiers are quickly deployed at the scene, resulting in an exchange of gunfire. Sgt. Lee Soo-hyeok, (Lee Byung-hun) a South Korean soldier on border duties runs from the North Korean side with a leg injury and attempts to reach the South Korean side. The southern troops rescue him while the gunfire continues.

Two days later, the fragile relationship between the two Koreas now relies on a special investigation conducted by Swedish and Swiss investigators from the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission to ensure that this incident does not erupt into a serious conflict. The mission is led by Swiss Army Major Sophie E. Jang (Lee Young Ae). Her mother is Swiss and her father is Korean. This is her first time in Korea.

As Sgt. Lee Soo-hyeok has confessed to the shootings, it is up to Sophie to investigate why the two Koreas have contradicting accounts of events. She proceeds to read the story of Soo-hyeok's experience which tell of him being knocked out and kidnapped while relieving himself. He then wakes up tied up in the North Korean border house, before proceeding to secretly free himself and shoot three North Korean soldiers, leaving two dead. However, Soo-hyeok is unresponsive to Sophie and will not answer any questions. On asking Soo-hyeok's comrades about him, she receives stories praising his courage defusing a mine he stepped on, or of throwing rocks at the North Korean house; however this gets her nowhere. Sophie then visits North Korea where the sole survivor of the incident, Sgt. Oh Kyeong-pil (Song Kang-ho), tells a different story: one in which Soo-Hyeok barges into the border house and shoots everyone before retreating when the wounded Kyeong-pil fights back.

The autopsy report shows that one soldier was shot first in the chest and then in the head, while the other, Jeong Woo-jin, was shot eight times repeatedly, more indicative of a grudge than an attempt at escape. The autopsy report also reveals the 11 bullets found in the bodies, together with the 5 remaining bullets in the gun's magazine, amount to 16 bullets for a gun that should normally hold 15 bullets. Over the course of the investigation one of the first witnesses, Private First Class Nam Sung-shik attempts suicide by jumping out of the window of the interrogation room, and Sgt. Lee Soo-hyeok starts losing his mind. The events that led to the killing of two North Korean soldiers are then shown throughout the film in a series of flashbacks. First, the depositions of each surviving soldier are shown, providing conflicting versions on that night's events. Major Sophie looks further into the case and discovers that things are not quite as they seem. Ultimately Sophie discovers incriminating evidence of a friendship between the four involved in the shooting. She by then is removed as the investigating officer as her past was discovered; that her father was a general for the North who chose not to return to either North or South after the Korean war and decided to migrate to Switzerland after he married a Swiss woman. Sophie was previously unaware of this and the North and the South used this information against her. She confronts Soo-hyeok in the end of the film with a choice. He can tell her the truth (about who shot first in the North Korean guardhouse) and she will not leave the incriminating evidence of the friendship for her replacement, or he can refuse and she’ll leave the evidence. By telling the truth he will also protect Oh Kyeong-pil and Sung-shik.

Soo-hyeok obliges and through flashbacks it is shown that one night Sgt. Lee Soo-hyeok was on patrol with his men when he had to urgently relieve himself. When he stepped away, his men realized they had gone over the North Korean border without realizing it and quickly retreated. So when Soo-hyeok returned he was abandoned. As he found his way out, he stepped on a mine and could not move, or it would explode. At the same time two North Korean soldiers found him, Sgt. Oh Kyeong-pil and Jeong Woo-jin who was looking for his dog. Soo-hyeok had no choice but to beg tearfully for help and Kyeong-pil, amused at his predicament helped him. From that moment on a strange friendship developed between the older Kyeong-pil and Soo-hyeok who greatly respected him. Soo-hyeok was the one who initiated the friendship by writing a letter to Kyeong-pil to thank him and the two continued writing back and forth to each other.

Eventually Woo-jin, curious over the strange letters wrote a false letter to Soo-hyeok. Soo-hyeok concerned over the contents of the letter (which is not shown to the audience) went over the border and that became a nightly routine as three men became fast friends. Nam Sung-shik, who is Soo-hyeok's friend and partner during the night watch was persuaded to go over and although apprehensive at first, the four men became fast friends and regularly enjoyed nightly meetings and card games. There was doubt on Sung-shik's mind that perhaps their North Korean friends may be trying to persuade them to defect but Soo-hyeok quickly dismissed it. When Soo-hyeok casually asks Kyeong-pil why he didn't defect to South Korea since he likes to many modern things that Soo-hyeok showed to him including food, Kyeong-pil became very defensive and Soo-hyeok realizes they should leave politics out of their friendship as each party is loyal to their own country.

This went on for a while until one night Soo-hyeok decided to stop the visits as the tension between the North and South were rising. But that night he and Sung-shik made one final trip to say goodbye and to celebrate Woo-jin's birthday. As Soo-hyeok was about to tearfully leave a commanding officer from the North discovers them and immediately guns are pulled. Soo-hyeok explains to Sophie that Kyeong-pil attempted to defuse the situation by lying that they were planning to help Soo-hyeok and Sung-shik defect. Eventually he was able to calm the commanding officer down and the guns are lowered however when the officer attempted to grab his handheld radio Sung-shik panicks and shoots the commanding officer, Woo-jin pulled his gun and Sung-shik shot Woo-jin numerous times. Kyeong-pil managed to persuade Sung-shik to lay down the gun and instead of reporting them, he told them to leave and to say that they were kidnapped. Kyeong-pil shoots the officer in the head and then asks them to shoot him. He then threw away all the evidence into the nearby reservoir. Sung-shik managed to run back while Soo-hyeok who was shot in the leg hobbled to safety amidst shooting from both sides in a fierce gun battle as he laid stunned at what just happened.

Sophie finally found the answer she sought and she confirms this with Kyeong-pil who does not blame Soo-hyeok (who is being discharged) for what happened. However while saying goodbye to Soo-hyeok Sophie notes there was one inconsistency when Sophie asked Kyeong-pil. Kyeong-pil stated it was Soo-hyeok who shot Woo-jin but Soo-hyeok remains silent when asked. Sophie however believes the events happened so fast one of them must be mistaken and can't remember correctly and believes it to be unimportant. Sophie hugs Soo-hyeok and wishes him well before he is escorted out of the hospital by two armed soldiers. While leaving Soo-hyeok grabs one of the soldiers guns and commits suicide by shooting himself in the head. In the final flashback it is discovered Soo-hyeok was the one who shot Woo-jin and Soo-hyeok committed suicide out of guilt for Woo-jin's death and Sung-shik's suicide attempt. The film concludes with a shot photograph of Sgt. Oh Kyeong-pil in the joint security area surrounded by MPs including Sgt. Lee Soo-hyeok, Pvt. Nam Sung-shik, and Pvt. Chǒng Woo-jin taken after he returned a hat to a tourist on tour in the DMZ (an event that happened earlier in the film and the only photo of the four of them together).

Cast

• Lee Young Ae — Major Sophie E. Jean
• Lee Byung-hun — Sgt. Lee Soo-hyeok
• Song Kang-ho — Sgt. O Kyǒng-p'il
• Kim Tae Woo — Pvt. Nam Sung-shik
• Shin Ha-kyun — Pvt. Chǒng U-jin
• Herbert Ulrich — Cpt. Perrson†

†: Sophie calls him captain, however the rank on his shoulder say lieutenant colonel in the Air Froce

Reception

The film drew nearly half a million viewers in Seoul alone in its first week. Within 15 days of its release the film reached one million admissions and by early 2001 Joint Security Area had become the highest grossing film in Korean film history. It was later passed by the films Friend, Silmido and Taegukgi: The Brotherhood of War. Overall, JSA had 2,499,400 admissions in Seoul over its 20 weeks in the cinemas and an estimated 5.8 million admissions nationwide.

In 2009, director Quentin Tarantino named the film as one of his twenty favorite films since 1992.

A DVD of the movie was presented to North Korea's leader Kim Jong-II by South Korea's President Roh Moo-hyun during the Korean summit in October 2007.

Awards and nominations

2000 Blue Dragon Film Awards

• Best Film
• Best Director - Park Chan-wook
• Best Supporting Actor - Shin Ha-kyun
• Best Cinematography

2000 Pusan Film Critics Awards

• Best Actor - Lee Byung-hun, Song Kang-ho

2001 Deauville Asian Film Festival

• Lotus d'Or (Prix du Jury) ("Jury Prize")
• Lotus du Public (Prix du Public) ("Popular Choice")
• Lotus du Meilleur Acteur ("Best Actor") - Song Kang-ho

2001 27th Seattle International Film Festival

• New Director's Showcase Special Jury Prize

2001 Berlin International Film Festival

• Nomination - Golden Berlin Bear

2001 37th Paeksang Arts Awards

• • Best Director - Park Chan-wook

2001 Grand Bell Awards

• Best Film
• Best Actor - Song Kang-ho
• Best Sound -Seok-weon Kim, Won-Yong Kim
• Best Art Direction

2002 Blue Ribbon Awards

• Best Foreign Language Film

2003 Hong Kong Film Awards

• Nomination - Best Asian film

2001 Fant-Asia Film Festival

• Nomination - Best Film

See also

• List of films set in or about North Korea

References

Bibliography

• Kim, Kyung-hyun (2004). "9. 'Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves': Transgressive Agents, National Security, and Blockbuster Aesthetics in Shiri and Joint Security Area". The Remasculinization of Korean Cinema. Durham and London: Duke University Press. pp. 259–276. ISBN 0-8223-3267-1. 

External links

• Joint Security Area at the Internet Movie Database
• Joint Security Area at AllRovi
• Joint Security Area at Metacritic
• Joint Security Area at Rotten Tomatoes
• Review at koreanfilm.org