South Korean Cinema: JSA
April 2, 2023
South Korean Cinema: An Unconventional Crash Course
Two North Korean soldiers are killed in the border area between North and South Korea, prompting an international investigation that begins to uncover contradictions that could threaten the fragile peace between the two Koreas.
In the mystery-thriller JSA (short for Joint Security Area), two North Korean soldiers are killed in the border area between North and South Korea, prompting an international investigation that holds the weight of the fragile peace between the two Koreas in its hands. But when witnesses from both the North and South offer up contradicting stories, the truth of what happened reveals itself to be much deeper, more nuanced, and more complicated than imagined. Upon its release, JSA quickly climbed the box office charts to become the highest grossing film yet in South Korean film history. A breakthrough film for legendary director Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, The Handmaiden, Decision to Leave) and featuring a star-studded cast that includes Song Kang-ho (Parasite, Memories of Murder), Lee Byung-hun (I Saw the Devil), and Shin Ha-kyun (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance), JSA is a tour de force of contemporary South Korean cinema.
Content Advisory: Mild gore and depiction of suicide.
- Director: Park Chan-wook
- Principal Cast: Lee Yeong-ae, Lee Byung-hun, Song Kang-ho, Kim Tae-woo, Shin Ha-kyun
- Country: South Korea
- Year: 2000
- Running Time: 110 min.
- Producer: Eun Soo Lee, Myeong-chan Park
- Screenplay: Park Chan-wook, Seong-san Jeong, Hyun-seok Kim, Mu-yeong Lee
- Cinematographers: Sung-Bok Kim
- Editors: Kim Sang-beom
- Music: Jun-seok Bang, Jo Yeong-wook
- Language: Korean
- Has Subtitles: Yes