Synopsis:

Visitors to the still-divided Koreas often marvel at how close the two countries actually are. Those used to borders as wide as a mile, will find that in North and South Korea the only thing that keeps the two physically separate is a short bridge and a thin demarcation line.

The unimaginatively titled Joint Security Area, shows that for those who walk that bridge and line every day, there is isolation, loneliness and fear. Those who dare cross either will meet tragedy.

It starts off with a shoot-out and a wounded soldier stumbling out of a guard post in the pouring rain. Three North Korean soldiers have been struck down, two are dead, the other wounded. They all point the finger at South Korean Sergeant Lee (Lee Byung-Heon).

An investigator from the Neutral Nations Security Commision, Swiss-bred Korean Major Sophie Jean (Lee Young-Ae) is sent in to unravel the mystery. What she uncovers are forbidden friendships, political cover-ups, deep-seated hatreds and her own shady past.

Like that other Korean critical and commercial blockbuster Shiri, Joint Security Area combines the tautness of a good mystery thriller with searing comment. Both look at how the years living as divided nations, taught from cradle to grave to hate and fear those of the same blood. But where Shiri examined how the seeds of hate had taken hold in modern South Korean society, Joint Security Area deals with those who serve on the frontline.

Director Park Chan Wook has delivered incredible sequences that capture both the divisiveness and the similarities. Two platoons of troops, one from the South and the other from the North, come across each other in the biting cold, meeting on a picturesque snowy plain.

All have raised their rifles, ready to fire when the two COs come forward, eye each other warily and finally end up sharing a cigarette. They return to their men, who have since lowered their weapons, and without a word, both groups fall back.

These iconic tableaux make up the backbone of Joint Security Area and are testament to director Park's obvious talent in being able to convey so much using sparing, minimal devices.

However, the film's fatal flaw lies in its pace and structure. Progressing at a snail's pace, it could get certain viewers out of their seats and exiting the theatre. The pay-off at the film's climax is well worth the wait, but how many will be fast asleep and thus miss it?

Park has chosen a freewheeling non-chorological structure that flits from the present to past and back again, without any warning. Definitely disconcerting, it takes a while to get used to and it's only around the one-hour mark that the audience might be able to settle into the technique.

Joint Security Area is an interesting flip side of the coin to Shiri. With the two Koreas coming closer and closer, the film is a timely reminder that there are more bridges and lines to be crossed than those that exist on their inhospitable borders.

A firefight occurs at the "Bridge of No Return" in the DMZ (De-Militarized Zone), and two North Korean soldiers are killed. The North claims that the incident was a flagrant attack by the South Koreans, while the South claims that one of their soldiers was kidnapped.In order to solve the dispute, the NNSC (Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission)dispatches half-Korean half-Swiss Army Intelligence Bureau officer, Major Sophie E. Jean.With no cooperation from either side, the case appears to be unsolvable. However, Major Jean discovers that the number of bullets fired from the pistols and the number found at the scene differ by one, and she begins to dig deeper into the backgrounds of the soldiers involved. Subsequently she finds out about an encounter previous to the firefight when North Korean soldiers saved a South Korean soldier from a mine. The story unravels to reveal a friendship developing among the soldiers. On the night of the firefight...