solkimmyjones-60733 I decided to watch this amazing film again after 5 years or so of when I initially watched it. I must say the film hit me even harder the second time. The acting from the main cast was exceptional and I'm going far as to say the acting of Song Kang Ho haunted me. The only criticism I'm dishing out is to the acting of the Swedish officers and Lee Young-Ae in parts - this is mainly due to the awkward English (why didn't they speak Swedish amongst themselves?) but I don't blame the actors at all as it's obviously their second language. Go watch this film if you got a sec to visit the bay ;) - a true masterpiece of a debut that captures true human emotions/bonds

ozzy_in_uk I don't even remember how it is that I staggered across this movie. One thing is for sure, I won't forget about it in a hurry. JSA is a remarkable story about an incident where two North Korean soldiers are killed in the DMZ, and the investigation that follows. What is discovered as a result highlights that tragedy that befell upon the Korean Peninsula over fifty years ago.Skillfully directed by Park Chan-wook, who would go on to direct the "Vengence Trilogy," JSA has a female lead (Lee Young Ae), who thankfully disappears into the background when the film shifts its focus to the events that lead up to the incident where the North Koreans are killed. Lee Byung-hun and Song Kang-ho are the key performers, playing soldiers on opposite sites, whom share an unlikely first encounter, which is followed by other encounters, before a friendship between the two is formed. Ultimately, four soldiers, two from each side, become friends in a highly unusual setting, as they guard the two respective sides of the "Bridge of No Return." When the friendship is predictably discovered by an NK officer, two soldiers are killed, bringing the film to it's eventual climax. Not wanting to endanger the life of his friend on the other side, the South Korean soldier in custody for the killings gives a fabricated version of events, as does the surviving soldier on the northern side. The final meeting between the two takes place in the conference room at JSA. With the truth seemingly uncovered by the UN investigators, a final tragic truth is revealed about the shootings, which in turn leads to a tragic finale. The final scene of the film, which is a flashback, is quite moving.Overall, in spite of some minor annoyances, ie the English speaking roles, this film is one not to be missed. Whilst the investigation is not exactly rocket science, the story itself is one of friendship under extraordinary circumstances, with a strong anti-war message behind it. Korea is a complicated issue, and what this film succeeds in doing is highlighting just how tragic the consequences are in relation to the unresolved issues on the Korean peninsula. The performances by the four central characters are outstanding, particularly Song Kang-ho as the seasoned North Korean sergeant.History is written by the victor. When there is no victor, there are two different versions of history. As a result, there are consequences, and regrettably, this leads to casualties. This film is about some of those casualties.

zetes Chan-wook Park's third feature and first big hit. He's of course best known for his Vengeance Trilogy, and is seen something as a genre filmmaker, maybe most closely associated with horror (his most recent film is the vampire flick Thirst). I had always thought J.S.A. was some kind of espionage thriller. How wrong I was. Though definitely in his own recognizable style, J.S.A. is an extremely serious-minded movie about the relationship between the two Koreas. It is built as a mystery, where a Swiss woman of Korean origin (Yeong-ae Lee), a member of a neutral investigation committee, investigates a border incident where a South Korean guard has apparently escaped from the North Korean post across the border after having shot and killed two guards and injuring another. Lee is allowed to go between the two countries to interview the people involved, study the crime scene and study the bodies. The stories she gets from the two survivors are wildly inconsistent. As the film moves on, Park slowly reveals the truth behind the matter. What results is a touching and tragic incident involving a friendship forming between four border guards, two each from the respective countries. The story is hard to get a hold of at the beginning, but when all is said and done, it's an incredibly powerful piece of cinema. The final sequence, where we are asked to examine closely a photo we've seen taken earlier in the film, is absolutely devastating. It's the kind of film where you don't even realize how powerful it is until the right moment, when all the emotions come flooding in to overwhelm you.

RainDogJr Major Sophie (Lee Young Ae), from Switzerland, is in charge of the investigation about a shooting in a North Korean border house. Lee Soo-hyeok (Lee Byung-Hun) is the main suspect of the dead of two North Korean soldiers after he escape from the soldiers according to his confession but Major Sophie will find some contradictions in Lee's confession, specially because of the number of bullets in the dead bodies. Soon the truth will be know.The plot of this film, directed by Chan-wook Park before his great and famous "Vengeance trilogy", involve one of the most difficult themes for the two Koreas and a tragic and touching story about friendship set in an absurd thing called war. The storyline is perfect and very touching, first it seems to be a story about mystery involving a murderer but later with the flashbacks it turns into a story full of humanity in which the protagonists are afraid to tell the truth thanks to the assured reaction of their governments that will place them as treacherous. So the film is very antiwar and always have a great message that every person in the world must practice.The cast is great and i think is not very easy to make a film about this difficult theme and all the actors and actresses are just perfect. And the cinematography is just amazing with some of the most memorable scenes that i have seen on a film, specially every time we can see how close is the border between this two countries. Also i think the very last photography is very beautiful showing the four "brothers" before the tragic story. And i read that it is impossible to film in the Joint Security Area so they create a perfect replica for the film so is also a very valuable thing.Conclusion: watch this excellent film, it was the biggest success in the history of Korean cinema and is another great film by the great Chan-wook Park. 9.5 out of 10DVD: the last year the company Quality Films released in Mexico the collection "Cinema Xtreme: Asian Series", with a lot of excellent films including this one. I own like 4 films of this collection and are just great, with few but good bonus material. The only bad thing is the package of this DVD that is not as good as the rest of the collection and i don't know why. Anyway is excellent that we can enjoy this films in Mexico.