Joint Security Area Movie Is a Korean Classic

Chan Wook Park Film about North & South Korea Border Soldiers

Feb 8, 2009 Lynette S.K. Webster

Gladiator writer David Franzoni has the rights to remake JSA but this Korean movie remains the compelling original. Starring Yeong Ae Lee, Byung Hung Lee & Kang Ho Song.

Director Chan Wook Park’s first big hit was JSA: Joint Security Area, a Korean war movie in year 2000 which earned $1.7 million at its opening weekend at the Japanese box office alone. The DVD can now be found in video stores in most countries. Joint Security Area is adapted from the novel DMZ by Sang Yeon Park, about a shooting incident which occurs at the border between North and South Korea. This diplomatic conflict is worsened by the two uncooperative soldiers involved. Major Jean (Yeong Ae Lee), a half-Korean negotiator, is brought in by neutral countries to report on the incident.

Thrilling Journey that Keeps Audience Guessing

Admirers of Chan Wook Park’s later films like Oldboy and I’m a Cyborg, but I’m OK will find Joint Security Area more mainstream. Yet Park gives the twist that is just as heart wrenching as later movies. Suspense kicks in immediately with audience guessing: who is telling the truth, who fired the gunshots? Sgt. Lee (Byung Hung Lee) and Sgt. Ho (Kang Ho Song) try to cover up the truth which keeps the suspense high. Major Jean makes it her personal mission to find the truth, which is what the audience wants, though the pressure to de-escalate the incident is tremendous.

Main Cast: Byung Hung Lee & Kang Ho Song

JSA is really a simple story, manipulated brilliantly to produce the twists that make it a gem onscreen. Kudos must be given to director and writers, but certainly to the cast. Having presented each soldier’s recounted flashbacks, the director suddenly disposes of soldierhood’s macho conventions, and removes the prejudice surrounding this case. Byung Hung Lee’s militant jaw and demeanour soften, becoming a boyish soldier who cries when he steps on a mine. Kang Ho Song looks dashing in his uniform but prefers to stuff himself with American-made Choco-Pies. (In fact, an article nicknames Kang Ho Song "The Choco Pie Guy"). Both actors possess charisma in buckets, and their characters’ deep bond mimics romance. Their star turns are nicely supported by playful Ha Kyun Shin and nervous Tae Woo Kim. Director Chan Wook Park’s talent in creating dramatic scenes through a character’s idiosyncrasies is pure genius. His later film Oldboy confirms this.

Borderless Koreans: Major Jean’s Father

Even Major Jean (Yeong Ae Lee) is not spared. Her father is Korean, but his photo is hidden away. It is later revealed that her father was one of the seventy-five POWs who did not choose a side, but migrated. As the only female in this movie, Yeong Ae Lee plays Major Jean young, sharp and unrelenting. The script is not just suspenseful but also humorous, just like the scene when Major Jean happily checks out Sgt. Oh’s (Kang Ho Song) scars.

Mise En Scene Used and Unused in JSA

Mise en scène in the last scene alone would make Korean film JSA: Joint Security Area a classic. Chan Wook Park freezes a snapshot from an earlier scene, of Sgt. Oh at the border. The camera pans to reveal his friend Jeong (Ha Kyun Shin) in the same photo, followed by Nam Sung Shik (Tae Woo Kim) and finally Sgt. Lee (Byung Hung Lee), all involved in the tragic incident. Yet where mise en scène could be used, such as in the card game, Park pans each face instead, Noh-theatre style.

Joint Security Area a Must See

Joint Security Area is an exploration into the psyches of North and South Koreans and dares to ask “what if”. JSA ponders the empty meaning of the border and puts forward bravely, the suggestion that human warmth and friendship replace the divide.

Sources:

[1] South Korean Film Sets Records at Japanese Box Office. Screen Daily, 2001.

[2] Song Kang Ho – The Choco Pie Guy. YesAsia.com, July 25, 2005.

J.S.A.: Joint Security Area (Gongdong gyeongbi guyeok JSA: Korea)
Director: Chan Wook Park
Writers: Seong San Jeong, Hyeong Seok Kim, Mu Yeong Lee, Chan Wook Park, Sang Yeon Park (Novel DMZ)
Actors: Yeong Ae Lee, Byung Hung Lee, Kang Ho Song, Tae Woo Kim, Ha Kyun Shin
Running time: 110 minutes

The copyright of the article Joint Security Area Movie Is a Korean Classic in Foreign Films is owned by Lynette S.K. Webster. Permission to republish Joint Security Area Movie Is a Korean Classic in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

JSA: Joint Security Area a Must-See	Sharp Yeong Ae Lee & Charismatic Byung Hung Lee	Cool, steady Performance by Kang Ho Song
Touching Mise en Scene in JSA