J.S.A. – Joint Security Area
Picture: C+
Sound: B- Extras: C+ Film: C+
Two North Korean soldiers are mysteriously killed and a
lady investigator is sent in to find out what happened in J.S.A. (2000),
Park Chan-wook’s attempt to conjure up the tension of one of the least-known
military hot spots in the world. The
film is mostly the military equivalent of the police procedural, but wants to
be about the people stuck there and cannot make up its mind where it wants to
go.
The director co-wrote the script and the mystery is not
that great when all is said and done, while the film is plodding overall. The performances are not bad and the film
takes itself seriously enough, but the film ultimately looses its was in its
109 minutes length. Though I got the
impression of the stakes of the deadly zone, the film never really creates
enough tension about it and the director ultimately is trying to say and show
things only he understands the full meaning of. Maybe those in Korea may get it, but I doubt many others
would. It is an interesting failure at
best.
The anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image was shot by
cinematographer Kim Sung-bok and does not use the scope frame to full
advantage. He plays it too safe and not
enough depth of field or images edited for impact to push the idea of the
dangerous title area enough. The Dolby
Digital is here in three versions, English 2.0 with Pro Logic surrounds and
5.1, plus Korean 2.0 with said surrounds, which is easily the best of the
three. The problem with the English dub
is it sounds like it was voiced by people who dub Animé TV shows resulting in
inappropriately “talking at” and even yelling at each other, so go for the
English subtitles instead.
Extras include a behind-the-scenes piece, interview piece,
four trailers for this and other Palm Pictures releases, an awkward music
video, and weblinks. For the most
curious only.
- Nicholas Sheffo
