A heart-wrenching military thriller where forbidden brotherhood blossoms in the shadow of the DMZ, only to be shattered by the cold machinery of ideology and a single, fatal spark of panic.
Joint Security Area
공동경비구역 JSA
"Eight shots! The truth is there."
Director:
Park Chan-wook
Cast:
Lee Young-ae, Lee Byung-hun, Song Kang-ho, Kim Tae-woo, Shin Ha-kyun
Drama
Action
Thriller
Budget:
$12,500,000
Joint Security Area - Easter Eggs & Hidden Details
Easter Eggs
Song Kang-ho's role reversal
In the 1999 hit Shiri, Song Kang-ho played a South Korean agent hunting North Koreans. In JSA, he plays the North Korean, a choice that subverted audience expectations and signaled a shift in cinema's portrayal of the North.
The final photograph
The black-and-white photo shown at the very end of the film is actually a real photograph taken by an American tourist, in which all four main characters happened to be in the frame by accident. It serves as the ultimate visual metaphor for a unity that existed but was never officially recognized.