Joint Security Area (2000)

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 ... See full summary »

Director:

Chan-wook Park

Writers:

Seong-san Jeong, Hyun-seok Kim

Stars:

Yeong-ae Lee, Byung-Hun Lee, Kang-ho Song

14 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Yeong-ae Lee	...	Maj. Sophie E. Jean
Byung-Hun Lee	...	Sgt. Lee Soo-hyeok
Kang-ho Song	...	Sgt. Oh Kyeong-pil
Tae-woo Kim	...	Nam Sung-shik
Ha-kyun Shin	...	Jeong Woo-jin
Herbert Ulrich	...	Swedish soldier
Christoph Hofrichter	...	Maj. Gen. Bruno Botta
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Micara Adriana
Gallego Alberto
Ahmedov Ayder
Cannon Greg Courtney
Ju-bong Gi	...	General Pyo
Isaac Green
Kwang-il Kim	...	Civil Servant #3
Myoeng-su Kim	...	Top Ranking Officer Choi

Storyline

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 rounds in the assassin's magazine, amount to 16 cartridges for a gun that should normally hold 15. 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.

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Plot Keywords:

korean demilitarised zone | north south korea divide | soldier | korea | neutral nation | 

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller | War

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Myung Film

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean English German

Release Date:

9 September 2000 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

J.S.A.: Joint Security Area

Filming Locations:

Asan, Choongchungnamdo, South Korea

Company Credits

Production Co:

CJ Entertainment,Intz.com,KTB Network

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

If you listen carefully during the scene when Maj. Jean and her liaison are walking over "the bridge of no return", you can hear loudspeakers broadcasting over the DMZ. These are known as "propaganda speakers" - the north and south both have use these devices to broadcast - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 day a year - propaganda against one another as to why listeners should unify under their specific rule of government.

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Goofs

The moment before Sgt. Lee shoots Sgt. Oh in the shoulder you can clearly see the squib device underneath his uniform.

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Quotes

Sgt. Oh Kyeong-pil: Your shadow is over the line. Watch it!

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Connections

Referenced in Weakest link: Hitori gachi no hôsoku: Episode dated 29 July 2002 (2002)

User Reviews

Very good, when the dialog is in Korean

I saw this as the second half of a double bill and after the first five minutes of truly horrible english dialog I thought I was in for a rather lame movie going experience, but i was too be proven wrong.

JSA is quite a good film, especially when it is looking back on the friendship of the North & South Korean border guards. Anytime the film went to english dialog, the film took a turn for the worse.

Violent in parts, funny in others, a great human story set in the DMZ, a place not renowned for it's humanity.