Chan-wook Park’s film Joint Security Area is a mystery-thriller set in the city of Panmunjeom straddling the demarcation line between North and South Korea. Two North Korean soldiers have been killed, and a South Korean soldier was found limping across the “bridge of no return” back into South Korea. A Swedish Neutral Nations investigator with a Korean background accompanied by a Swiss investigator has been assigned the case of determining the real reason behind the murders.
This film shows the effects of globalization as well as addresses local issues. First, the investigation is headed by two foreigners. The first officer they meet is German. Clearly, South Korea has been greatly influenced by the Neutral Nations because they are technically still at war with North Korea. Another international aspect of the film is that the South Korean soldiers use American lighters, listen to American music, and eat American foods. The murder weapon, a Beretta pistol, is made in Italy. North Korea, however, shuns products that are not developed in the country. The film also addresses the local issues pertaining to the war between the two nations. It shows the strong tension between the two countries by the way the enemies stand guard feet from each other never crossing the demarcation line. Even the insides of the buildings are divided by the line. An innocent South Korean soldier crosses the line into the North, but when he asks a North Korean soldier if he would ever cross into the South, he is offended and stubbornly expresses his opinion of how much greater the North is.
While the film addresses a topic specific to Korea, the film shows globalization in South Korea and a lack of globalization in the North. To call this film strictly an international movie would be an overstatement. It is a local film that shows the contrasting cultures of North and South Korea. South Korea happens to be a county affected by globalization and North Korea not very much.
Brian Forsyth
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
While you make some good points about the globalization seen in South Korea, it seems incorrect to state that North Korea has been influenced very little by outside nations. Instead, North Korea has been influenced by outside nations with political and social ideologies that are unfamiliar to the average American (i.e. China, Russia..).
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your analysis of this film but I believe you left out an important point in the second paragraph. When the South Korean soldier asks the North Korean if he would like to come down south, the North Korean does express that the North is greater. However, you failed to mention why he thought it was better. The reason was that the South had been influenced too much by other nations (primarily America) and was therefore not considered Korean anymore. This is why he later called the South Korean a 'puppet'.
ReplyDeleteI stressed to think about how globalized South Korea is compared to North Korea until watching this film. It seems as if the North has this overly superior attitude that they can not pursue any interests to outside nations. I agreee that this film shows many local features and historical background of the war of the North and South, but I think it has a lot of international affects to it as well. Considering the style of the film, there is a lot of hybridization of cultures here and styles of editing. It would be good to also include here more of the mise-en-scene and its effect to make certain impact on the viewers.
ReplyDeleteI respectfully disagree with your stance of this being a local film. Its ideologies and symbols have global repercussions. While yes, a good deal of this movie is local, I feel as though you harp on that too much rather than focusing on many other aspects such as nationalism and brotherhood.
ReplyDeleteWhere it is true that the film seems to bring in international elements such as the investigation being headed by two foreigners, a deeper look reveals that JSA may not be as international of a film as it may appear on the surface. For example, the lead investigator is of Korean descent, and the secondary investigator seems not to do much throughout the film. A more in-depth look may reveal things that were originally not visible.
ReplyDelete--Blake Rainwater
Your analysis of JSA was for the most part very accurate. What I thought was intriguing and could be further developed was the whole idea of North Korea's lack of modernization. There was one scene in which one of the North Koreans complained to the South Korean sergeant about how South Korea's army was in between them and America. His quote seems to suggest that North Korea fears westernization more than their southern brothers, and its this theme that leads to the friendship between them.
ReplyDelete