Chicago screening: Anti-U.S. Bases in Asia Documentary Film - Mon. 7pm in Pick Hall

[Christine Marran]

I suggest a few more films for viewing on the subject of N and S Korea 
and the US.

_Repatriation_ is an excellent documentary about the struggle of North 
Koreans to be repatriated into North Korea after spending decades in 
prison in the South because they were unwilling to provide authorities 
with a forced "confession." The film is not that ideologically driven in 
the sense that it primarily depicts the friendships that the ex-soldiers 
develop with South Koreans. It does show, however, the sad jobs these 
70-year old men must pursue to survive outside of prison in S Korea 
(i.e. no social net for the elderly).

_JSA_ is an interesting Korean feature film, that likely many 
Kinejapaners have viewed, that depicts the ultimately impossible 
friendships between four N and S Korean soldiers working in the DMZ.

The nearly unspoken but looming presence in both films is the US and 
military.  JSA has quite a romantic portrayal of reunification, but it 
is not without counterparts. Quite a few Korean films take up the 
subject.  These kind of films provide further perspectives for 
considering the role of the US army in S Korea and the DMZ.

These films, if they share anything, share a critique of militarism.

Christine