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Park Chan-wook

Joint Security Area (공동경비구역)

Director Park Chan-wook Composer Bang Jun-seok, Cho Young-wuk Cast Song Kang-ho, Lee Yeong-ae, Lee Byung-hun
110' - 2000 - Action, Drama, Thriller - Dialogue: German, Korean, English
North-South tensions flare high in this early film by Park Chan-wook. Alongside the political trauma, there is also the bonding of border guards in the demilitarised zone between the two Koreas.
Before his definitive breakthrough with his Vengeance Trilogy (Vengeance, Oldboy and Lady Vengeance), Park Chan-wook already proved himself with this brutal mix of male bonding, trauma and the tensions between North and South Korea. The title refers to the demilitarised zone between the two countries and the two political ideologies. After a violent incident that leaves two North Korean border guards dead and one South Korean wounded, a neutral Swiss-Korean female officer investigates the case and in the process comes across a secret fraternity between border guards from both sides. This first superproduction of the new South Korean film industry remains politically controversial. For some, it illustrates the Kim Dae-jung government's opening up to North Korea; for others, it's a neo-nationalist treatise, making the film as schizophrenic as its country of origin.
"Focused on the blurring of shared boundaries, it's also the gayest action flick figuration of Korea's post-war bifurcation ever made, predominantly concerned with the fatal attraction between two pairs of night duty border guards who strike up an unlikely friendship based on pop-culture crossovers and macho mutual admirations." - The Village Voice

Image gallery

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Credits

Directors

Park Chan-wook

Composers

Bang Jun-seok, Cho Young-wuk

Cast

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

Scenario

Park Chan-wook, Jeong Seong-san, Kim Hyun-seok

Director of Photography

Kim Sung-Bok

Editors

Kim Sang-beom

Producers

Lee Eun-soo, Park Myeong-chan

Production studios

CJ Entertainment

More info

Dialogue

German, Korean, English

Countries of production

South Korea

Year

2000

Filmography

Park Chan-wook
The Moon Is... The Sun's Dream (1992), Saminjo (1997), Judgement (1999), Joint Security Area (2000), Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002), Oldboy (2003), If you Were Me (2003), Three... Extremes (2004), Lady Vengeance (2005), I'm a Cyborg, but That's OK (2006), Thirst (2009), Night Fishing (2011), 60 Seconds of Solitude in Year (2011), Day Trip (2012), Stoker (2013), Bitter Sweet Seoul (2014), A Rose Reborn (2014), The Handmaiden (2016), Life is But a Dream (2022), Decision to Leave (2022)