August 21, 2006
Economic Divisions Part 2
Joint Security Area
JOINT SECURITY AREA
In contrast to this spatial relation of the invisible and the visible, Joint Security Area puts the division in a space of neutrality. Although it is a blockbuster at the same level of Shiri, its neutral space not only within the demilitarized zone but also the class-neutral space of the army allows the film to have a slightly more complex look of the possibility for reunification. This neutral space is in a sense the only space within the film, and the absence of spaces within either North or South Korea become so strong that the few scenes we do get to see outside of this neutral zone become all the more resonant. These forays outside of the DMZ also show how the supposed neutrality of the film is actually again positions South Korea as dominant culturally (through socio-economic class and culture, as well as technology) over North Korea. The trip from the airport Panmunjom shows Korea to be developed and secure, with highways and overpasses, which are again products of the Park regime much as the ships in Shiri and as such are linked to Korea's economic miracle. The second time we see South Korea is during Sophie's trip to an amusement park to talk to the girlfriend of one of the South Korean soldiers. Again we see the bright lights, garish costumes, and loud colors that signify this site as hyper kinetic consumer culture (as all of these large amusement parks in Korea are products of one of the large chaebol's) as well as a product of a post-industrial society. In between these scenes is a trip into North Korea. It is shown to be agrarian and pre-industrial, as well as completely run by propaganda. Sophie must drive into North Korea but unlike the impressive highways of South Korea, the North has simple roads through fields that are brown and expansive. The socialist architecture is prominently displayed by the hospital and in sharp contrast to the modern skyscrapers and hospitals that a South Korean audience knows is just outside of that amusement park. The most modern space shown in North Korea (the coroners office) is defined as a space of deception and propaganda with the inclusion of the family there to rattle Sophie. The cold anesthetic environment is also trumped by the inclusion of a mini-dv camcorder in the hands of the investigation team. There is also hardly any color in North Korea (except of course the bright red swatches because then we all know they are commies), as they are more muted earth tones that are in sharp contrast to the bright colors of the Swiss base and the amusement park.
It is hard to truly see the DMZ and the investigatory team in a neutral space as well. They exist in very Westernized offices and through the placement of books and computers (as well other technology such as mini-dv camcorders) are positioned as upper-to-upper middle class intellectuals who smoke pipes and play darts. They become South Korean by proxy and through the fact that the audience relies on Sophie (who is terrible at keeping up the façade of neutrality) to tell the story. The higherups on both sides want to contain and control the truth and help to maintain its invisibility (just as the agents must do in Shiri) for if it escaped onto either side of the 38th parallel the situation would be explosive. This decadence on the part of the top brass is sharply contrasted to the more easily neutral homosocial space that the soldiers create. Yet still problems of economic status seep into the relationship between the guards from both sides. The guard boxes and the spaces within which the soldiers exist are strongly void of any visual clues as to the socio-economic status of themselves or their respective countries. However, as in Sbiri, weapons and technology are shown as subtle visual clues. The North Korean soldiers have the same uniforms we imagine they have had since fighting the Japanese colonists, while the South Koreans are camouflaged and very Western looking. The North Korean soldiers carry the weapon of all third-world countries: the AK-47, while the South Koreans have night vision goggles and M16-A2s. Visually the South Korean army is therefore positioned as superior to the North, and as such is more prosperous economically as well as heavily modernized (which throughout South Korean film history is always connected to the visual aesthetics of the West). Even the friendship that is so pure and innocent between the four guards is marked by South Koreas prosperity and consumer culture, which creates an underlying tension that will later explode into violence.
Lee Soo-hyuk throws audiocassettes of popular South Korean music to Sergeant Oh, but a reverse exchange is never done. This is an exchange of culture yes, (even if it is more lower class than the high culture on display in Shiri) but also of economic might. Pop music is one of the many perks of living in a stable economic society, where disposable income can be spent supporting favorite artists. Sergeant Oh even asks if there are any female singers in South Korea, as if there were none in the backward North Korea. Another major gift that the South Koreans bestow upon their Northern friends is the choco pie. This little piece of consumer goods is ultra manufactured and delicious, and we are led to believe that nothing exists that is like it in North Korea. This even becomes a ridiculous argument to the North Koreans as a reason for defection: they can eat all the choco pies they want in the South (the unsaid reason?: they will starve in the North). The final item is the gift of pornography, which is the ultimate product of a capitalistic consumer society: sex for sale. It is also marked as an American import, another reference to the unsaid tension that South Korea is merely a puppet state that owes its existence and success to the American Imperialist forces. Unlike Shiri, however, these economic factors do not make reunification impossible. Actually it brings the four soldiers closer together, and it is only with the intervention of the upper brass in the North Korean army that the situation explodes. The underlying tensions come out and the Cold War mentality takes over and friends become enemies. Again they must protect the status quo and the visible world outside the area of the guard boxes. The films message is that the people are ready, if only the government could get past its differences. The film would have made a stronger argument, however, if they had not included the investigatory team. This places the audience within the space of the protectors of the status quo. We never know what truly happened in the guard box because they wish to make this situation invisible, to forget and move on, and the characters who cannot act within the rules set by both sides must die. Only Sergeant Oh is left in the end, too old and dead to the world to care.
