Joint Security Area (2000)
Friends separate at the border in this emotionally moving whodunit
7.9
Movie
South Korea
English, French, German
Drama, Mystery, Thriller, War
2000
CHAN-WOOK PARK, PARK CHAN-WOOK
Byung Heon Lee, Byung-hun Lee, Christoph Hofrichter
108 min
TLDR
Why can’t we be friends? Why can’t we be friends? Why can’t we be friends? Why can’t we be friends?
What it's about
Two North Korean soldiers are killed in the DMZ border between North and South Korea, prompting an investigation from a neutral Swiss team to avoid war. To do this, the team pulls in Swiss-Korean Maj. Sophie E. Jean to serve as lead investigator.
The take
Not many places are worse to find a dead body than in the border of North and South Korea. The tensions are high, the trust is low, and the conflict between them hasn’t been resolved in more than half a century. Joint Security Area is centered on a whodunit surrounding two North Korean soldiers at the border, but Park Chan-wook crafts a compelling mystery not caused by international politics, but rather by friendship between soldiers in the lower ranks, a unity and brotherhood that’s tragically hidden and forced to separate because of lines made by their higher ups. It may not compare to Park’s more famous films, but Joint Security Area hinted at the filmmaker that was to come.
What stands out
The way Park uncovers the original novel’s mystery maximizes the tension and the tragedy, with his preoccupation over deception and the complexities of human connection. It’s no wonder that this became the hallmark of his work.
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