JSA (2000)

Since for some time I don't really manage to get to see something better than a certain level, I've told myself to have a look again into the East .. although even the last experience from the cinema there ("The Mission") wasn't really something to remember. I still can say that either I'm lacking the material or the choice inspiration (amplified by the rate of 1 movie/week) ... or I started being too demanding. Anyway, even if "JSA" is (for me at least) again at the limit, it's a higher limit than the last one ...

Let's start with a bit of history: JSA, or in more detail Joint Security Area, is a militarized perimeter of several square kilometers at the border between North and South Korea, established in 1953 when the truce was signed and used for negotiations, etc since then. A more "exotic" characteristic to say so, is that the respective area maintains the marked split line between North and South, which in server point is just a slab in the ground, along with the strict "do not cross" interdiction ensured by guards from both sides. For more details about the location topography I recommend a Google Search. About the current movie, the main part of the action takes place near a bridge (having the split line in the middle). One evening, both sides are put in alert due to an incident between the two guarding posts. The outcome: two deaths + one survivor heart in the shoulder in the North Korean premise and a South Korean shot in the foot who barely manages to cross the border line covered by the rain of bullets exchanged between squads summoned at the place by both sides. To solve the incident a team of two officers from NNSC (Neutral Nations Supervisory Comission) is formed, NNSC being an entity created along JSA and approved by both parties for arbitrating situations, and currently being formed from Swiss and Swedish personnel. The main investigator of the two officers is a woman of Korean descent from her father's side, born in Geneva. She receives the depositions from both sides with a silent suggestion to solve the situation fast and without complications even if the result of the inquiry won't offer any answer. The official version of the southern soldier is that he was kidnapped and he killed the two when escaping. The only survivor of the northern guarding post is that the southern enemy just came in randomly unloading his gun in everybody there. Making a reference to an Asian classic, both versions are presented in a flashback style a la "Rashomon", followed by the real version .. which of course I'll leave to be seen ...

... Not though without a (sort of ) major spoiler :P, since after all the situation becomes quite clear pretty fast, and the movie itself doesn't do too much to hide stuff from the ending. What we have here is pretty close to the story from "Joyeux Noel", or what happened during World War I at the 1914 Christmas time. No to take the spoiler too far, and risking to get a bit cryptic in the following I won't say what happened then, although is neither very hard to guess nor to find out exactly. The difference in "JSA" is that given the much smaller scale of the story, and the ending that you get at the beginning of the movie, the result is to put it in one word: tragic. Up to the point when from the moment (as said not very advanced) when everything becomes relatively clear about the story, and the movie gets a bit hard to watch. You know where it's going, and the slow way to advance to that point only amplifies the drama. What can I say is that "the end of story" is so well done that the drama is kept, but fortunately for the viewer's psychic :) it's not delivered as harsh as you might tend to expect up to that point. I guess I forgot to mention that "JSA" is among the first movies of Chan-wook Park, more known (and awarded at Cannes) for "Oldboy". And since it seems that an excellent directing compensates more an acting not so good here and there, than the reverse from last time ...

Rating: 4 out of 5 ( .. but still at the bottom limit :) although this time I'm more subjective = not really in the mood for heavy dramas at the moment )

Since again the trailers from that side of the world are a disaster (and you ask yourself how come the movies there are not that appealing), I had to find a sort of alternative - in the current case a clip apparently included in the extended DVD release .. anyway much closer to "the movie feeling":