Monday, February 9, 2009
JSA
The film, JSA (Joint Security Area) covers numerous topics relevant to international cinema such as nationalism, national borders, civil war, and the bonds that are formed and/or broken during these violent struggles. In JSA, the country was Korea. The national borders that separated the communists from the "puppets" (as Seargent Oh would call them) also separated brothers, causing them to violently turn on each other. The theme of national pride is a prevalent one in this film, as the soldiers on both sides not only feel pride for their respective ideals and their armies, but also for the nation of Korea as a single unit. This is ironic because the country is so divided by war and hate, yet the central uniting factor is the love for the mother country shared by all. Another theme that seems to be the driving force in the film, is that of friendship and brotherhood. The fact that a soldier would save the life of an enemy he has been trained to fight and kill is strange enough, but the fact that they could become "brothers" in the midst of the bloodshed surrounding them in times of war is nothing short of miraculous. When Seargent Oh and Jang save Lee from the bomb wire, it signifies the beginning of a close friendship, and perhaps even symbolizes a future hope that the war will come to an end when both sides realize that they are all truly Korean brothers.
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I think when describing how national borders separated 'brothers' you make it seem as though they were born brothers, it may have been better to setup more of the storyline and describe whey the men felt so close to each other. Later in the review when you mention how the bonds between the men were so strong it prevented (or at least made them feel bad) to kill one of their friends whom they were taught to kill was a nice point. It might have helped to move your last sentence up a little higher to better introduce the relationship between the men.
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ReplyDeleteThis is not a film review at all, it is a film analysis. There no mention of the plot or settings of the film and characters were mentioned in passing. As a reader, I would not be enticed to go see this film. However, the analysis part of this "review" is very accurate. The only problem is that, there is not a war going on during this film, just border protection, which makes it more reasonable why Sergeant Oh and Sergeant Lee became friends because during actual war, there would be no hesitation from enemies. All the ideas that there is nothing different between the two sides and that Korea is the same as a whole are well made and supported.
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