<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.