Featured Audience Ratings

• xGary X

  
  When two North Korean soldiers are killed in a shooting incident in the demilitarized zone of the border between the North and South, an independent investigator is called in to prevent it from becoming a full-blown international incident. Without wanting to give too much away, Chan… More
  When two North Korean soldiers are killed in a shooting incident in the demilitarized zone of the border between the North and South, an independent investigator is called in to prevent it from becoming a full-blown international incident. Without wanting to give too much away, Chan Wook Park's story of unofficial detente is a classy "hands across the border" tale which shows how it is lot harder to make enemies of people than just drawing a line on a map. The politics of the situation almost come in for some ridicule in this warm-hearted but tragic tale that shows how mutual distrust and hate-breeding propaganda can lead to nothing but death and misery for all involved. The investigation itself is actually the least interesting part of the film, coming across as a little dry and contrived and the performances by the English speaking cast are easily the least engaging, but the flashbacks that show the truth behind the events that unfolded are handled brilliantly. Park hasn't quite perfected his trademark style yet, but all the night time scenes are really nicely shot and there is a lot of humour and pathos in the relationship between these soldiers who find they have far more in common than the politicians would have them believe. Not perfect, but it's lacking in the kind of saccharine and flag waving you'd expect from Hollywood and makes for a compelling thriller with a very human message.

• Kevin C

  
  A heartbreaking, poignant anti-war film that works best if you don't look into the plot too much, as to avoid the sometimes awkward plotting.

• Reid V

  
  Kind of hard to believe that this is Park Chan-Wook. While an engaging film, it is a bit overly sentimental in parts. I understand that subject matter dealing with the reunification of a country torn in two would be replete with emotion, but some scenes felt like they were created for… More
  Kind of hard to believe that this is Park Chan-Wook. While an engaging film, it is a bit overly sentimental in parts. I understand that subject matter dealing with the reunification of a country torn in two would be replete with emotion, but some scenes felt like they were created for a TV movie on Korea's own Lifetime network. None the less, it is still an engaging who done it and an interesting glimpse into the psyche of a nation divided.

• Bruce B

  
  What kills this movie is the Dubbed Voices. After rewatching it with English Subtitles and Korean Language, I found it to be more enjoyable and realistic. About 2 sets of soldiers one from each side of the Korean Border ( North and South Korea) who are station at and out post, god… More
  What kills this movie is the Dubbed Voices. After rewatching it with English Subtitles and Korean Language, I found it to be more enjoyable and realistic. About 2 sets of soldiers one from each side of the Korean Border ( North and South Korea) who are station at and out post, god forsaken duty that would drive the best man nuts, but these four form a bond, until discovered. Which sets the stage for murder and suspense. A great story. 4 Stars

• Arash X

  
  Park Chan Wook's wonderful debut that has a lot to say & not only about its main subject, Smart,moving & well-crafted without falling into trite sentimentalism & with a great soundtrack specially the song The Unsent Letter by Kim Kwang Seok , There are so many great… More
  Park Chan Wook's wonderful debut that has a lot to say & not only about its main subject, Smart,moving & well-crafted without falling into trite sentimentalism & with a great soundtrack specially the song The Unsent Letter by Kim Kwang Seok , There are so many great things about this that make its flaws forgettable, oh & what a brilliant closing

• JY S

  
  Director Chan-wook Park comes through with an antiwar picture that revolves around the conflict between North and South Korea.<p>The pacing of this 1 hour 45 minute flick is pretty slow, but the story is so intriguing that it never is a bore. It also effectively uses the… More
  Director Chan-wook Park comes through with an antiwar picture that revolves around the conflict between North and South Korea.<p>The pacing of this 1 hour 45 minute flick is pretty slow, but the story is so intriguing that it never is a bore. It also effectively uses the flashback technique to tell the back story.</p><p>The first 30 minutes is all about the character of Sophie Jean investigating a shooting incident between the 2 regions of Korea. During this time the film uses quick repetitive flashback scenes that differ by how a certain character's story pans out. Instead of having Sophie investigate for the whole film with flashbacks here and there to explain things, <i>JSA</i> decides to switch gears and tell 90% of the back story for the next 30 minutes, which almost makes you forget about Sophie herself. Eventually the film switches back to investigative mode for the next 30 minutes before going back to unfold the finale of the back story. The writing is nicely done.</p><p>The directing isn't as stylized as other Chan-wook Park films like <i>Oldboy</i> and <i>I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK</i>, but there is still some good cinematography at times.</p><p>It is pretty amazing how 3 of the bigger actors in Korea can all co-exist in this film without overpowering one another. The beautiful Yeong-ae Lee, of <i>Sympathy for Lady Vengeance</i> fame, plays Sophie the investigator and she carries her parts of the picture. She also speaks some pretty decent English, which there is quiet a bunch of throughout the film. The 2 male leads of Byung-hun Lee and Kang-ho Song carry the back story segments nicely.</p><p><i>JSA</i> may lack the action, but the story, characters, and the directing make this a worthwhile film.

• Tsubaki S

  
  An early effort from Park Chan Wook, before his vengeance trilogy, where he already showed a great control of both camera and story. That combined with the excellent performances by both Kang Ho Song and Lee Byun Hung help to give a serious tone to the film, and to avoid any cheap… More
  An early effort from Park Chan Wook, before his vengeance trilogy, where he already showed a great control of both camera and story. That combined with the excellent performances by both Kang Ho Song and Lee Byun Hung help to give a serious tone to the film, and to avoid any cheap melodrama that any other director would had used.

• Sarah G

  
  In the DMZ separating North and South Korea, two North Korean soldiers have been killed, supposedly by one South Korean soldier. But the 11 bullets found in the bodies, together with the 5 remaining bullets in the assassin's magazine clip, amount to 16 bullets for a gun that… More
  In the DMZ separating North and South Korea, two North Korean soldiers have been killed, supposedly by one South Korean soldier. But the 11 bullets found in the bodies, together with the 5 remaining bullets in the assassin's magazine clip, amount to 16 bullets for a gun that should normally hold 15 bullets. The investigating Swiss/Swedish team from the neutral countries overseeing the DMZ suspects that another, unknown party was involved - all of which points to some sort of cover up. The truth is much simpler and much more tragic. <a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/sarah88_uk/joint1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a> A brilliant film by Chan Wook-Park. Perhaps not as good as Oldboy but still a very good film and worth the watch. Also, a film that contains politics that I am not aware of at all, which I learnt about through watching this. The film depicts the ridiculous, yet tragic consequences that an imposed barrier can have on its people. This was done beautifully, with one shot in particular. We see the shot aimed specifically at the protagonists feet and the emotions that one character felt through going over to the North. Brilliant! We also see that the 4 main characters, from the North and the South have more in common than they think. All of this, makes Joint Security Area a teriific film to watch. Keeping you on the edge of your seat. <a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/sarah88_uk/Joint2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a> While the plot feels very familar, ie many American films have used this idea of hositliies between two rival nations, JSA by the end of the film remains orginal for me. I begin to understand why Korea is mentioned so often in the news. There are also referances to the Americans and hostilities between the Koreans and them. One flaw that JSA has is the poor English that is spoken between some of the foreign actors. Luckily one of them, a Swedish soldier has very little presence so he's ok, but the investigators chief commander a Swiss general is not worthy of any screen time what so ever. Yeong-ae Lee's(Lady Vengeance)command of English for someone who is suppose to have learned Korean second hand in Switzerland, is awkward and fake. It's obvious she doesn't have command of the English language in this film and makes for some bad dialogue, and doesn't make her character believable. A particularly unnecessary scene comes toward the end of the film when the Swiss general explains why he chose her to lead the investigation. The acting and exchange is bad, and there should have been a better place used to describe the situation probably in Korean with one of the other Korean actors. Or it should have just been flat out cut from the film all-together. <a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/sarah88_uk/Joint3.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a> Asides that, the film is a brilliant portrayal of 4 friends from rival nations, who are united through their friendship. I loved the final scene, where it's revealed how they knew each other. Brilliant! <b>Overall, a brilliant film which I recomend to all.</b>

• Lanning :

  
  <b>Gongdong gyeongbi guyeok JSA </b><p> Just as a reminder, photography is not authorized in this area. <p> If you may be curious about how I would distinguish between a "bittersweet" ending such as the one in <i>Dalkomhan insaeng (A Bittersweet… More
  <b>Gongdong gyeongbi guyeok JSA </b><p> Just as a reminder, photography is not authorized in this area. <p> If you may be curious about how I would distinguish between a "bittersweet" ending such as the one in <i>Dalkomhan insaeng (A Bittersweet Life) </i> and the deeply tragic ending of a moivie such as this one, I would in turn ask you to consider the possibility, in your own life, of having to kill a best friend in a horriffic moment of mind-numbing intensity. <i>Joint Security Area</i> is indeed a full-blown tragedy centered around the fact that the two Koreas are currently divided by the 38th Parallel (aka the DMZ). To say that director and co-writer Chan-wook Park here makes a devastatingly powerful artistic statement about his problem with this political barrier might seem hyperbolic if you have not actually experienced this film, but once you see JSA I believe you will agree with me. <p> The movie is perhaps even more moving for me since my paternal grandfather and grandmother came from what would become North Korea and South Korea, respectively. They actually met on a ship when they were immigrating to Hawai`i, fell in love and eventually married, and, well, here I am : ) Obviously I have a deeply personal stake in this whole idea of a very real yet seemingly artificial division. No matter which side of the 38th Parallel you come from, you are still a Korean at heart, body and soul. I have never been to Korea, so I can't vouch for the accuracy of Park's depiction of how amazingly easy it is to simply step over that division line. It is incredible. <p> The acting of the four principal friends, two from the North, two from the South, is outstanding. This is my second experience of Byung-hun Lee (Sergeant Lee) in less than a week, but I am here making the bold statement that he will eventually do a movie or two in Hollywood, and this will expose him to a wider audience who will absolutely love him. Kang-ho Song, as Sergeant Oh, is killer good as the most matured and strongest binding personality is this movie about friendship. Tae-woo Kim (Private Nam) and Ha-kyun Shin (Private Jeong) are excellent as well. <p> Please, I don't want to turn you off to giving this film a chance by suggesting it is a tragic downhill run into the pit of despair: <p> But don't you have any female singers down there? <p> This is just one of the funny lines. I particulary love it when the four friends get together and, even though they are all adults, play childhood games. Their friendship is a beautiful sight to behold. <p> If you are looking for a movie which will make you think about the issues of politics and the bonds of friendship, this is a good one to see, flixster friends. Again, I must offer the disclaimer that this might be more deeply moving for me because of my personal stake in the whole issue. In the Olympics, the two Koreas march together under a flag especially designed for the Olympics. It's a simple blue and white design with an outline of the entire country. Google it if you don't know the flag I mean; it's easy to find on the web. If only the two Koreas could come together like that again. The opening quote up at the very top refers to a photograph taken right on the 38th Parallel in the course of the movie. We do not see it until the very end. It is a chillingly tragic picture of the four friends. I'm getting goosebumps just typiing about this. What I definitely want to say, flixsters, is that you will want to watch this movie at least twice in order to understand everything which transpires. <b> Third viewing</b>: To give you an example of a "bittersweet" scene in this film, I would point you to the exchange of girlfriend pictures among the four firiends. When Tae-woo Kim (Private Nam) throws them his wallet and they see how beautiful his girlfriend is, the admiring reaction of the other three is very funny. The two North Koreans would not know this, but the further reaction of Lee, Kim's fellow South Korean, leads me to believe that the photo Kim offers is of a South Korean movie star, the kind that comes with the wallet when you buy it. This further amplifies the suggestion of Kim's sexual attraction to and love for his childhood friend Lee ("Sergeant Lee . . . you are very handsome"). This love for Lee would go a long way toward the audience's understanding of Kim's multiple shooting of Shin (Private Jeong) in the end, the man whom he had moments before honored with a birthday present of art materials. While we do find out that it was in fact Lee who fired the initial shot ("They all say you are fast with a gun"), it is Kim who puts the additional eight shots into Shin. To further explain this killing, and to further expand on the angle of Kim's love for Lee, it is only after Shin shoots Lee that Kim fires all those additional shots in retaliation, a reaction motivated by grief. <p> I just have to add that the time transitions are superior. This editing artistry is a tribute to Sang-beom Kim.

• Walter M

  
  [font=Century Gothic]In "Joint Security Area", investigators from the neutral countries of Sweden and Switzerland have been sent to Korea to investigate the shooting deaths of two North Korean soldiers in the demilitarized zone, dividing South and North.(The investigator… More
  [font=Century Gothic]In "Joint Security Area", investigators from the neutral countries of Sweden and Switzerland have been sent to Korea to investigate the shooting deaths of two North Korean soldiers in the demilitarized zone, dividing South and North.(The investigator from Switzerland, Sophie Jang(Yeong-ae Lee) was born in Switzerland of Korean parentage. This is her first visit to Korea.) The South Koreans claim it was an attempted kidnapping of the South Korean Sergeant Lee Soo-hyeok(Byung-hun Lee). The North Koreans claim it was a preemptive strike. So, what did happen?[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]"Joint Security Area" takes an unexpected path after the first half hour.(The film's structure is a little awkward. It would have been better to have revealed fragments throughout the film, instead of all at once.) It is still a political and allegorical film but it also takes a very personal direction. The movie uses the demilitarized zone between the North and the South as a symbol for borders everywhere which keep people of all nations and ideologies from conversing, and possibly uniting in a single struggle.(I was also thinking of the Jamie Anderson song, "Borders.") It is an important detail that most of the soldiers involved are enlisted men. [/font]

• Lesley N

  
  Korean political thriller about a handful of Korean solders on both sides of the north-south border. Meticulously made, coering such big subjects as loyalty and patriotism and with the current state of Korea, still topical ten years on. It sounds dry and worthy but it isn't.… More
  Korean political thriller about a handful of Korean solders on both sides of the north-south border. Meticulously made, coering such big subjects as loyalty and patriotism and with the current state of Korea, still topical ten years on. It sounds dry and worthy but it isn't. It's a murder mystery with a lot of charm in the unravelling and a truly poignant ending just as the final credits roll. A great watch <img src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/f0roM4xSyjY/0.jpg">

• William G

  
  Good acting prevents cock-eyed optimism from besting Korean military drama.

• Jonny C

  
  Good movie. Oldboy director Chan-Wook Park directs this detective drama set on the Korean borders. The story is intelligent and endearing, and the careful use of flashbacks worked well. The acting is great, with familiar faces from Korean cinema on top form, and I liked the unbiased… More
  Good movie. Oldboy director Chan-Wook Park directs this detective drama set on the Korean borders. The story is intelligent and endearing, and the careful use of flashbacks worked well. The acting is great, with familiar faces from Korean cinema on top form, and I liked the unbiased nature of the plot. The one thing that did annoy me was, I thought the Swiss army should have spoke French instead of English, as it didn't make much sense to do latter.

• Christopher B

  
  Recently it seems I seldom get the chance to rewatch movies, which is a shame.  It?s usually upon the second viewings that I really notice more technical things like editing techniques, common themes in director?s works, shot compositions, pacing, etc.  Usually on the first viewing,… More
  Recently it seems I seldom get the chance to rewatch movies, which is a shame.  It?s usually upon the second viewings that I really notice more technical things like editing techniques, common themes in director?s works, shot compositions, pacing, etc.  Usually on the first viewing, if the movie?s good, I have a tendency to fall under it?s spell.  Happily of course.?This is my second time seeing Park?s excellent JSA and it was possibly more rewarding than the first time I saw it.  A perfectly told mystery revealing a lot about brotherhood and honour along with giving a lot of info on the politics of North and South Korea. 

• Wu C

  
  Inter cuts a lot to flashbacks, but it all unfolds very nicely. Great tale of loyalty, friendship & remorse.

• Anthony V

  
  Fascinating and well made glimpse into the tense border of North and South Korea.

• Eduardo C

  
  Color me surprised. Not being one to worship at the altar of Chan-Wook Park (despite liking his films, some more than others) I did not have huge expectations for his first feature. The first 20 minutes proved interesting if popcorn-ish fare, standard military investigation thriller… More
  Color me surprised. Not being one to worship at the altar of Chan-Wook Park (despite liking his films, some more than others) I did not have huge expectations for his first feature. The first 20 minutes proved interesting if popcorn-ish fare, standard military investigation thriller material, but the film makes a sudden turn which not only elevates what has gone on up until this point, but pushes the film past, past and way past the point of entertainment and into the realm of social commentary and heartbreaking study on human nature. The film is not so much political as it is perceptive to the daily rituals and realities of the demilitarized zone that serves as the border between North and South Korea. No one side is villified (though the U.S. gets quite a few not-so-subtle and definitely not uncalled-for jabs thrown its way) nor deified. The story, despite its huge socio-political implications, is simply about the relationship between four men. The last 10 minutes are uneven and could definitely have been handled better, but by this point the film has already made its mark. I feel, thus far, this is Chan-Wook Park's most complete film (his others were all, in my eyes, flawed one way or another, despite how good or great they may ultimately have been) and a shining example on how to handle possibly explosive material with subtlety, dignity and class.

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