When a South Korean soldier (Lee Byung-hun) stationed with the garrison that guards the 38th Parallel on the North/South border staggers back across from the other side with a bullet in his leg, it sparks a military investigation into why he was there and how he was involved in a shootout that left two North Korean soldiers dead.

Director Park Chan-wook scores his breakthrough hit here with a gripping military thriller, that also proved a pivotal springboard in the careers of actors Lee Byung-hun, Song Kang-ho and Shin Ha-kyun, all of whom would go on to become bona fide A-list stars. As the investigation unfolds, we learn through a series of flashbacks, how all is not what it appears at one of the world’s most volatile borders, with the resulting story by turns touching, humourous, thrilling and ultmately tragic.

Park would come to be known for his stylised revenge thrillers, but here he displays a level of humanity and compassion that has subsequently eluded most of his later work. Joint Security Area is a fantastic film that while admittedly more commercial than Park’s later films, deserves to be ranked among his best, yet is still criminally underseen outside of its native Korea and dedicated Asian cinephile circles.