Joint Security Area (aka Gongdong gyeongbi guyeok JSA; dir. Chan-wook Park – 2000)
Another Korean movie with an ensemble cast, featuring Kang-ho Song (here for the third time - soon to be seen in the QT 20 as the slacker father in The Host and the rural detective in Memories of a Murder).
The movie deals with the fallout from an armed confrontation between North and South Korean soldiers in the demilitarized zone between the two countries, leaving two North Koreans dead, a third wounded as well as one of the South Koreans. A Swiss/Korean woman leads the investigation, interviews the survivors and tries to piece together what really happened. The movie unfolds via flashbacks and there are allegations about the investigator’s impartiality.
The female playing the investigator is a bit one-dimensional but the four actors playing the Korean soldiers are very good and the interaction between them unfolds naturally.
Like Memories of a Murder, this movie is well done and was a pleasant surprise.
tm sez: 7/10
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