Cinema
Joint Security Area
공동경비구역 JSA
Park Chan-wook · 2000
Synopsis
In the Joint Security Area of Panmunjom, between the two Koreas, two North Korean soldiers are killed one night in a North Korean guard post, near the Bridge of No Return. Sergeant Lee Soo-hyeok, a wounded South Korean soldier, flees south. The South speaks of a kidnapping, the North of a cold-blooded murder. The Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission sends Major Sophie Jean, a Swiss officer of Korean origin. Lee confesses, but the accounts of the surviving witnesses contradict his own.
Context
The film adapts the novel DMZ by Park Sang-yeon, from a screenplay by Kim Hyun-seok, Jeong Seong-san, Lee Moo-yeong and the director. Song Kang-ho plays Sergeant Oh Kyeong-pil, Lee Byung-hun the soldier from the South, Lee Young-ae the investigator; the sets of the border post were built in a studio in Namyangju. Released in Korea on 9 September 2000, it drew about 5.8 million admissions, a national box-office record in early 2001. Shown in competition at Berlin in 2001, it was not released in France until 2018, in a restored version.
Who it is for
An investigative thriller of one hundred and ten minutes, with flashbacks; a few points of reference on the demilitarised zone help in following it.
Prizes and reception
Best film at the Blue Dragon Awards in 2000 and the Grand Bell Awards in 2001; jury prize and audience prize at the Deauville Asian Film Festival.